President Biden Unilaterally Sets Min Wage at 15 Dollars an Hour for Federal Contractor Workers.

Wednesday, April 28, 2021

This is a good thing, considering how the cost-of-living (aka inflation) is creeping up, due to Biden Administration policies.

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden signed an executive order Tuesday to increase the minimum wage to $15 an hour for federal contractors, providing a pay bump to hundreds of thousands of workers.

Biden administration officials said that the higher wages would lead to greater worker productivity, offsetting any additional costs to taxpayers.

“This executive order will promote economy and efficiency in federal contracting, providing value for taxpayers by enhancing worker productivity and generating higher-quality work by boosting workers’ health, morale, and effort,” the White House said in a statement.

The liberal Economic Policy Institute estimates that as many as 390,000 low-wage federal contractors would receive a raise, with roughly half of the beneficiaries being Black or Hispanic workers. There are an estimated 5 million contract workers in the federal government, according to a posting last year for the Brookings Institution by Paul Light, a public policy professor at New York University.

More at: apnews.com...

The question is, IS THIS LEGAL?

As the article states, the Senate Parliamentarian said this $15 minimum wage provision could not be enacted, unless 66% of the U.S. Senate approved it.

With this Executive Order, President Biden bypassed the U.S. Senate all-together.

I remember when President Obama did that with an ObamaCare provision, the Federal appellate court ruled that he violated federal law. The judge said only Congress can authorize spending billions of dollars on a recurring basis.

-CareWeMust

the want you dependent on the state. Not gonna last, as the state is crumbling completely. This looks like a plea for help. They will continue to print the dollar into oblivion.

All the minimum wage does, is bring every member of the community onto the same pay bracket, regardless of the work they do, and allows a movement towards Universal Basic Income.

The problem is, that with wages artificially inflated, it is not going to increase productivity but rewards those with the lowest competence into thinking they are doing a good job. They will keep doing a borderline level of work to keep themselves from getting sacked, while the hard working members of the minimum wage pick up the slack.

What is also telling in the UK is that the increases in the National Minimum Wage (2.2% this year) appear to be at least slightly more than the increases in the "tax free allowance" of the Income Tax system (0.005% this year). This means each year there are more workers who live below the threshold suddenly starting to pay tax @ 20% beyond the tax free amount. The National Minimum Wage is not as much of a benefit once the benefit you see from that increase reduces.

On top of that though, the increased costs will have to be met somewhere; probably further up the supply chain and eventually to the consumer. One of the current squeezes here in blighty is the childcare industry.

Childcare settings must take children eligible for 15 (or 30) hours of free childcare, off-cost to the Government. This has been set at £5 an hour, per child, for years. Costs continue to go up though, the National Minimum Wage continues to go up though, yet those on the free hours are not to be asked to pay anything. Not everyone is eligible. So where does the childcare setting make up the rest of the money and remain even cost-neutral, let alone in profit?

Take that theory into retail, and as each level of the supply chain comes to this increased cost, and the cost is passed on to the consumer, the cost of living increases. Prices go up, the amount of VAT (Value Added Tax) in real terms increases the Government coffers and then the National Minimum Wage is no longer enough again.

So the vicious circle continues.

Eventually, so many people are on the National Minimum Wage, because it has caught up with people that have worked to be on slightly more wages, it becomes a Universal Basic Income. Over the last 10 years, Government led professions such as newly qualified nurses, police officers, civil servants, have seen the Minimum Wage get closer and closer to their live pay scales. It won't be long before you earn the same whether you stack shelves or just qualified to save lives.

a reply to: carewemust

I don't see why he can't do it. Federal contractors fall under the purview of the Executive Branch. And who's in the highest ranking member of the Executive Branch?

If this was an across the board raising of minimum wage to $15 then yes, that would need approval from Congress.

This is an empty gesture, I don’t know of any federal employees that make less than $15.00.

a reply to: Nickn3

Look again, about 3 levels of gs, and 6 levels of wg make less than that.

I would be interested to know how many federal workers are currently making less than $15 an hour. Something like 2% of the entire USA population makes min wage. Can't imagine federal workers are much of that 2%.

All the hiring signs I see up around here are already for $15 an hour. Menards, McDonalds, Aldi's, etc.

originally posted by: Irishhaf
a reply to: Nickn3

Look again, about 3 levels of gs, and 6 levels of wg make less than that.

Well that can't be making less than what $10 something an hour right? Didn't obama change the wages back when he was in office too?

Wow! I cant wait to pay more taxes so federal employees can earn a higher wage than non federal employees for the same jobs while the gov continues to dissolve the private sector.

a reply to: jjkenobi

I think maybe first year first term it was raised to 7.25. This is an issue state by state and should be managed by each state. In dsm iowa for instance median home is 143k, wheras san diego ca median home is 645k. Cola index is 81 vs 160. The federal gov is saying baseline livable wage is 15/hr across the board. That is idiotic.

a reply to: carewemust

What did he do for those already making 15/hr?

a reply to: DBCowboy

Nothing, but they are closer to poverty now. So there is that. Except...government contract workers are not minimal wage workers in the slightest. And it has zero impact if say you work as a machinist for a company that happened to make something for the government on contact.

For example: some of the people at a company I worked for made parts for the moon buggy and later parts for the shuttle. I personally made parts for a prototype Ford LTD that ran on Compressed Natural Gas (CNG). None of those jobs paid the worker a penny more nor would they under Obama/Biden flimflam artist BS. The COMPANY made a tidy bump in normal piece work prices...the worker got jack.

a reply to: Ahabstar

So basically an empty gesture that will ultimately harm most of us.

Not surprised.

This will end up turning out to be a failure just like most policies that require bribes and corruption to actually "work" 😃

You can be sure people much higher up the "chain" will get much more than $15 an hour 😃

This could screw up the Prevailing Wage system !!!! 😃

a reply to: DBCowboy

I know that you know, but most people don’t. But the only thing that using the minimum wage does is place more people in a higher tax bracket. That’s it. Nothing else.

A rising tide lifts all boats is true, but the harbor is deeper making it easier to drown. And the higher tide is just a higher baseline...making it harder to bailout the bilge when in trouble.

a reply to: carewemust

I think this is much to do about nothing. Most Federal workers make at least $15/hr, not all but the vast majority. This is just smoke and mirrors to the Bernie type for satiation purposes. It's like saying that that gasoline will have a current minimum price of $1.00/G.

originally posted by: booyakasha
the want you dependent on the state. Not gonna last, as the state is crumbling completely. This looks like a plea for help. They will continue to print the dollar into oblivion.

Cryptocurrency has entered the chat

a reply to: jjkenobi

a GS 3 makes about 28k a year right about 15 an hour if you work 40 a week 52 weeks a year.

Before anyone goes BUT ITS A GS (not saying you just anyone reading) a cashier at the BX on base is a GS 2 or 3.

Cant recall off the top of my head and digging through OPM websites gives me a headache but WG (hourly wage earners) 6-8 range is right at or just over 15 an hour.

At a depot location the people hired to wash planes (a truly terrible job) is a WG-5.

I am a WG 10 step 3 right at 28 an hour for my standard pay, and I am not allowed to get over time because of my particular job.

originally posted by: TzarChasm

originally posted by: booyakasha
the want you dependent on the state. Not gonna last, as the state is crumbling completely. This looks like a plea for help. They will continue to print the dollar into oblivion.

Cryptocurrency has entered the chat

Funny you mentioned that, I have a nice new high end PC and a 3 yr old so no time to play, been investigating and starting to mine some of the ones projected to see a jump in a couple years.