How's Your Minimum Wage Doing?

[Greatscott]

While channel surfing this morning I briefly stopped on a channel that used to be middle of the road, but has turned more liberal in recent months... Anyhoo... They were reporting on places that have already set their area's minimum wage to $15/hr. It turns out that in Seattle, those people that got bumped up to $15/hr are now making, on average, $125 less a month.

Huh... Seem like not everything is the way it should be in liberal utopia...

[badhoopty]

cool story bro.

[Meatwad]

Don't put too much stock into that there picture box.

[spaceman5280]

Big picture, Seattle has record low unemployment and the state economy is booming. Demand drives economic activity, I'm a union electrician on the east side of the state and we are so busy we are hiring off the street and we just negotiated the highest raise we've gotten in decades.

[Sarra]

I think that $900/month rent, while making $8/hour is a really special idea. They should do that everywhere!

[BJoe]

Honestly, you don't even need to increase Minimum Wage to do that, I've received well earned pay increases of less than $.50/hr then had my hours cut to make up for the difference with a week or so.

[spaceman5280]

The way I read it, those people got 9% more free time for the same pay......

[Peaker]

Pretty fine 21 USD/h ( excluding pension ) and that's unskilled jobs, you barely have to know the language to hold down.

BUT ! i cant tell how much are left after the tax man been there, cuz you guys wouldn't believe me.

[Highmark]

Originally Posted by Greatscott

They were reporting on places that have already set their area's minimum wage to $15/hr. It turns out that in Seattle, those people that got bumped up to $15/hr are now making, on average, $125 less a month.

Huh... Seem like not everything is the way it should be in liberal utopia...

I guess the implication is that their hours are being cut, so they're so much worse off now than they were before, so lets do the math:

$125 / $15 = 8.33 hours less a month.

Washington's minimum wage was already at $11hr anyway so to make the same $1000 dollars you would need to work 24 fewer hours (over half a week at full time). At the federal minimum like my home state they would need to work more than twice as much to bring home the same amount.

So worst case, if hours are cut they could pick up a new job, learn a trade, whatever and they're now being paid at a rate commensurate to the area and the economy that they live in. When I moved 1200 miles I got a raise to bring my pay in line with the local economy for doing the same type of work I was doing elsewhere, It doesn't make sense that that wouldn't apply to hourly employees as well.

[wings_of_fire]

Originally Posted by Peaker

Pretty fine 21 USD/h ( excluding pension ) and that's unskilled jobs, you barely have to know the language to hold down.

BUT ! i cant tell how much are left after the tax man been there, cuz you guys wouldn't believe me.

55% tax at least?

But you guys get better infrastructure and facilities that increases living standard.

If your personal income goes into some Research and development, then do you get tax exemption?

[spaceman5280]

Originally Posted by Peaker

Pretty fine 21 USD/h ( excluding pension ) and that's unskilled jobs, you barely have to know the language to hold down.

BUT ! i cant tell how much are left after the tax man been there, cuz you guys wouldn't believe me.

Good point, lots of stuff we buy from for-profits, you provide as a social benefit and less people go without what they need.

I would gladly pay more taxes if they paid for a more comprehensive social safely net.

[WHITE-TRASH]

The minimum wage is a terrible idea. Forcing businesses to pay more does two things, It increases the price on goods while devaluing the dollar.

The union wage is based upon minimum wage (multiplier thereof) so the unions love increases in the minimum. It bring artificially inflated wages into their ranks drawing more mouth breathers into the flock to provide them with more dues.

I'm old fashioned, I make my living through my good work and value as a worker. I don't need to strong arm my employer for anything, if I don't feel I'm being fairly compensated I don't strike or vote in a union. I go find another job.

[spaceman5280]

Originally Posted by WHITE-TRASH

The minimum wage is a terrible idea. Forcing businesses to pay more does two things, It increases the price on goods while devaluing the dollar.

The union wage is based upon minimum wage (multiplier thereof) so the unions love increases in the minimum. It bring artificially inflated wages into their ranks drawing more mouth breathers into the flock to provide them with more dues.

I'm old fashioned, I make my living through my good work and value as a worker. I don't need to strong arm my employer for anything, if I don't feel I'm being fairly compensated I don't strike or vote in a union. I go find another job.

Wrong again, minimum wage increases are necessary because the imbalance of power between employer and employee. Wages do not keep up with inflation so We The People need to intervene.

The reason union wages appear to be so high is because they have risen at a rate closer to inflation while non-union wages are pretty much stagnant.

Since demand drives economic activity, more money is more pockets means growth.

Union wages are negotiated and the relative power of each side determines the wage.

My local (Spokane) has the lowest wages because we have the smallest market share in the state, plus, we have to carry Northern Idaho's bad economic policies....

[WHITE-TRASH]

Originally Posted by spaceman5280

Wrong again, minimum wage increases are necessary because the imbalance of power between employer and employee. Wages do not keep up with inflation so We The People need to intervene.

The reason union wages appear to be so high is because they have risen at a rate closer to inflation while non-union wages are pretty much stagnant.

Since demand drives economic activity, more money is more pockets means growth.

Union wages are negotiated and the relative power of each side determines the wage.

My local (Spokane) has the lowest wages because we have the smallest market share in the state, plus, we have to carry Northern Idaho's bad economic policies....

The employee always has the power if they show some initiative and have a brain in their skull. It's easy to move up, McDonald's was never supposed to pay enough to raise a family off of. If you aren't worthless and you show up on time there are plenty of decent jobs to be had. Don't like how you're treated at a job then quit and go work somewhere else. Not everyone needs a group of morons to do the negotiations for them.


Spokane has lower wages because it's a dump full of hippy dippy douchebags. Don't blame Idaho for your own downfalls. It's never the idiots fault, it's always someone else's fault.

[spaceman5280]

Originally Posted by WHITE-TRASH

The employee always has the power if they show some initiative and have a brain in their skull. It's easy to move up, McDonald's was never supposed to pay enough to raise a family off of. If you aren't worthless and you show up on time there are plenty of decent jobs to be had. Don't like how you're treated at a job then quit and go work somewhere else. Not everyone needs a group of morons to do the negotiations for them.





Spokane has lower wages because it's a dump full of hippy dippy douchebags. Don't blame Idaho for your own downfalls. It's never the idiots fault, it's always someone else's fault.

Why shouldn't McDonalds pay enough to raise a family?

How many living wage jobs are currently available?

How many people are competing for those jobs?

I realize that data a facts are anathema to you, but they're true whether you believe them or not.

[WHITE-TRASH]

How much skill does it take to flip a burger? How much training and schooling is required to pull the fries out and hit them with some salt? Those jobs are for young kids first entering the work force not for someone to stay at for 10 years and raise a family.

No skill, no school required means small wage.

There are a pile of jobs out there that will pay if people are willing to put in the time and effort. We start base at $11.50, we have for a couple years already and if you're worth a damn you'll hit $13 in a month and get fully covered medical in 6 months. We don't have people beating down our door because it's work and they'd have to earn it. We average 3000 hours a year in the wash shed and there is a nice fat bonus check at the end of season for those that make it to the end.

I don't need data, I live in the real world.

[KJ10]

I haven't made minimum wages since a couple years out of HS. Anyone that does has no brains, or no drive; and deserves minimum pay for minimal work. But, the guy above me already said that better.

[Sarra]

There's a huge problem here. You remember those 99% protests? They actually had a point. Well, I mean they originally had a point, before it became a campaign to get as stinky and hoboish as possible.

The point was that people can't live on $6 an hour, even if they work 20 hours a day. Food, rent, clothing, child care, gas bills, etc., it's not possible. When the CEO of a company is making $200 million a month, and the other 5,000 employees are making $6/hr, and are limited to 28 hours a week, it just does not work. You want $6/hr part time to actually WORK for people, so they can actually LIVE on it, then you need to start paying that CEO $50/hr instead of $200 million a month, and you need to cut the cost of literally everything by 70%.

I make close to $15/hr, and I'm contractually required to work full time hours (no less than 35 hrs/week), but with apartments starting at $900 a month for a studio, I cannot afford rent. If I could find a good, clean, safe apartment for $600/month, I'd be happy as hell to rent it, but they just don't exist here.

The cost of goods, services, and housing has gone up, up, and away in the last 10 years, but wages have not moved much. My parents could afford an apartment, a car payment, and school on a part time job, with money left over, and have small or non-existent loans when they finished school. I cannot. At the rate things are going right now, the United States will be a third world country in 100 years, and all of those Freedoms people died for in WWI, WWII, Vietnam, Korea, Iraq, and Afghanistan, will be ****ed in the wind. If you think that letting Louisiana set their minimum wage to $0.10 an hour is a good idea, then by all means, you should move there and live on that yourself. Personally, I would rather not pay $3,000 a month to live in a Card Board Box, but that's what a lot of the people in the US thinks is a good idea, so I have no idea what to say.

[Sarra]

Originally Posted by KJ10

I haven't made minimum wages since a couple years out of HS. Anyone that does has no brains, or no drive; and deserves minimum pay for minimal work. But, the guy above me already said that better.

You know what, there's truth in that, to a point.

I worked for a car dealer for 2 years, and made minimum wage, as a Porter. It was hard work, I had to wash cars, and clean up the messes the techs left. Everyone yelled at me, and I busted my ass. After 2 years of bullshit, I quit and did literally nothing and got paid for it (well, it's more complicated than that, I got hired at a car shop that fired me for no reason, and I got unemployment for 2 years). I really enjoyed getting $9/hr to just put in a few BS job applications every week to McDonalds.

But, to be honest, when I did get a job offer for a parts driver at Autozone, I jumped on it. I'd rather bust my ass and get paid what it's worth, than bust my ass and have a bunch of pricks telling me I'm not working hard enough. And you know what, a lot of people in the US are living just that.

[WHITE-TRASH]

Originally Posted by Sarra

You know what, there's truth in that, to a point.

I worked for a car dealer for 2 years, and made minimum wage, as a Porter. It was hard work, I had to wash cars, and clean up the messes the techs left. Everyone yelled at me, and I busted my ass. After 2 years of bullshit, I quit and did literally nothing and got paid for it (well, it's more complicated than that, I got hired at a car shop that fired me for no reason, and I got unemployment for 2 years). I really enjoyed getting $9/hr to just put in a few BS job applications every week to McDonalds.

But, to be honest, when I did get a job offer for a parts driver at Autozone, I jumped on it. I'd rather bust my ass and get paid what it's worth, than bust my ass and have a bunch of pricks telling me I'm not working hard enough. And you know what, a lot of people in the US are living just that.

This post says a whole lot more than you realize. Good job on being a poster child for millenials.