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The title pretty much makes the point; for every whiny child making $7.50/hr flipping burgers and mopping floors, there are two or three people who have already worked their way halfway up the ladder. If you ever managed to schmooze a few half-literate politicians into doubling your pay, do you think the rest of us, who've already "paid our dues" are going to be content joining you and yours back on the bottom of the economic dungheap?
A proportionate raise for someone already working at $12/hr would raise their base pay to $24/hr; that works out to $960/wk, or just a little under $50K/yr -- which is a lot less than most teachers, or office workers earn. (And don't forget that those individuals often have to furnish the trappings of their careers, such as more-expensive clothing, at their own expense; and might face pressure to work more than the usual 40-hour week while limitd to a straight salary). .
Oh yeah, we know; you think your employer has a huge vault full of money -- somewhere -- from which he/she can satisfy all your fantasies without raising the prices paid by the rest of us.
It's time to grow up.
Very true, its crazy people are expecting to just be handed a good job with good pay and not put the hard work and time in to earn it! Why should just one class of people get a huge raise like that? Why should the employers be the ones stuck having to pay it to them?
I posted on the 2nd page (I believe) exactly what my plan is, 2 of the 3 currently making between minimum wage and $15 an hour will lose their job as I plan to outsource those jobs to India where I can get their work performed for what amounts to $6 an hour, the other one will be making about the same above minimum wage as she does now but her job description will change to do most of the coordinating with India and clients, and double checking the work that comes from the company in India. Overall my costs will probably decrease slightly from where they are today while my ability to charge a higher price will go up, but I have avoided doing it as I prefer to have my employees local and able to communicate directly with clients.
Can a worker in India fix your car? How about your toilet in your home? Can this same worker in India remotely teach a special needs child who also needs constant supervision, and maybe needs to be fed, wheelchair pushed, and their diapers changed?
Sorry, but there are occupations which pay not much more than the current minimum wage that requires SKILLS, require hands on face to face contact, and simply cannot be done long distance.
Can a worker in India fix your car? How about your toilet in your home? Can this same worker in India remotely teach a special needs child who also needs constant supervision, and maybe needs to be fed, wheelchair pushed, and their diapers changed?
Sorry, but there are occupations which pay not much more than the current minimum wage that requires SKILLS, require hands on face to face contact, and simply cannot be done long distance.
LOL, you think a mechanic makes anywhere close to minimum wage? You think being a plumber pays anywhere close to minimum wage? You need to get out of your house more if you believe that, most mechanics I know make $60,000 a year with diesel mechanics making close to $100,000 a year, most plumbers make at least $70,000 a year once they are licensed.
As for who is going to provide care for special needs kids, well the nice thing is that the remaining jobs will be paying more in taxes due to the raises, so maybe there will be more money for special needs kids, but I doubt the people pushing wheel chairs and changing diapers are going to get much of a jump considering CNAs in my area make about $10 an hour.
Besides that, I answered the question based on what I know, and I know what will happen in the company I own, and my guess is many other companies like mine will have the same reaction. Any job that can be outsourced will be, jobs will be changed to automated when there is a chance, and people will have their job descriptions expand. In other words everybodies jobs are going to get worse, but those burger flippers and people changing diapers will be getting paid more.
I do think the minimum wage needs to be indexed to inflation and locale.
However, simply raising it to some arbitrary number is not a long term solution. There will always be jobs that most anyone can do, and these generally will always be paid the lowest amount of money. If you have the minimum amount of skills/education/ambition/social skills/learning ability/etc, then expect to be paid the minimum amount of money. It's simple economics.
So its okay for prices to rise on everything every year, but its not okay to raise the minimum wage?
People who "paid their dues" to get to $12/hr probably deserve more money as well.
Funny how they weren't complaining when they were making 12.00 and someone else was making 8-10. Apparently they didn't care about those other people either... Because they were getting " theirs".
I do think the minimum wage needs to be indexed to inflation and locale.
However, simply raising it to some arbitrary number is not a long term solution. There will always be jobs that most anyone can do, and these generally will always be paid the lowest amount of money. If you have the minimum amount of skills/education/ambition/social skills/learning ability/etc, then expect to be paid the minimum amount of money. It's simple economics.
I agree. We can't just set the minimum wage to $15 period. The south for the most part is fine lower priced at the national level when it comes to COL but you look at say New York, Los Angeles, Seattle, etc. you can't live on $7.25 an hour. They are the real ones asking for the $15 wages, not the one who are making minimum wage in areas where it is much more affordable. The problem is rather than localize the talks, we nationalize it which just creates more trouble because people claim doom and gloom from raising the minimum wage maybe because the area they live in isn't as high of cost area and they do not have the struggles minimum wage workers have day to day.
Oh yeah, we know; you think your employer has a huge vault full of money -- somewhere -- from which he/she can satisfy all your fantasies without raising the prices paid by the rest of us.
Actually, they do. And just because you are happy making $50K/yr. doesn't mean you should be. I doubt wages in your profession have done more than about double since 1970. Really high wages in 1970 like those paid to airline pilots and air traffic controllers haven't even done that. What do you know of that still costs in 2015 what it did in 1970? If a teacher was being paid $25K/yr in 1970 they should be making at least $200K in 2015. How many of them are doing even half that? In the Private Sector its even worse. You are right about those 65 hour weeks for $30K/yr. So? So the answer is to bust on low wage workers and keep them at the present minimum wage till... till when? The minimum wage had it risen in accordance with the prevailing cost of living since its inception would be more than $20/hr. This race to the bottom mentality really needs to stop. Push back against the oppression from above. That's what the minimum wage set are doing and its high time. They literally don't have any further down to go so they are pushing back. If you don't think you are worth double your present salary, well, that's on you. But most $7.50/hr. workers need to make double that because people like you, when its time to collect the rent from them are going to be asking for prevailing rental rates as they exist now. The average rent on a one bedroom SRO in 1970 was about $10/wk. Now its $125/wk. You could easily pay $10/wk on an hourly wage of $2.00 washing dishes. Now you are supposed to pay $125/wk on an hourly wage of $7.50 only 28hr/wk at that. Time for you to get a clue.
^ the end goal of all of this is to make Hunger Games be how america actually works. we're pretty close to it in poor america already. if you don't get shot or OD on oxycontin maybe you'll make it big on reality TV or singing with the stars.
the people at the top have done a good job of convincing the people at the bottom to argue against anything that would help themselves out. no longer surprising to see anti-union, anti min wage, anti health care, anti education, anti welfare rhetoric coming from people who make twelve dollars an hour.
the people at the top have done a good job of convincing the people at the bottom to argue against anything that would help themselves out. no longer surprising to see anti-union, anti min wage, anti health care, anti education, anti welfare rhetoric coming from people who make twelve dollars an hour.
All of those government-provided programs you mentioned aren't "helping themselves up." They aren't the ones paying for those programs, we (the middle class) are. The other flaw in your logic is that some people live on public assistance their whole live and never bother to "help themselves up," they settle for us "helping them along."
The other flaw in your logic is that some people live on public assistance their whole live and never bother to "help themselves up," they settle for us "helping them along."
That hasn't been true since the Clinton White House. Let it go already. Arizona is bringing in a one year maximum. Let it go already. But be assured. The answer is not to accept that $7.50 or even $9.00/hr is fair compensation for any work done in as high maintenance a country as America. A waiter in NYC makes 1/2 minimum wage plus tips. A waiter in Stutgart makes minimum wage ($20/hr plus tips). The American waiter has to pay for his own healthcare, that could easily be equal to his take home pay and more. The waiter in Stutgart has his healthcare paid out of his taxes. Taxes that are not any higher than what the waiter in NYC pays.
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