Work Ethic

originally posted by: nickyw
a reply to: Xtrozero

what are the business overheads for the $25 per hour and what does that mean to product costs, and what does that mean in a society addicted to all things cheap be it food, pay or loans..

and on those rates what does a supervisor or manager earn?

our addiction to cheap cripples us hence the shift from equality to equity as its the cheaper option for the corporates..

It is hard to come up with a number. If you make 8 bucks an hour and a cup of coffee is 4 bucks how is that different then if you make 24 per hour and so a cup of coffee is 12 dollars. Seems most things are linear in the greater the cost to a company the higher the prices will be. A company that give good benefits that pays a worker 70k is actually costing the company 110k overall, but people don't see the 110k as their wage.

You kind of eluded to one of the issues and that is we are a consumer society and people think their consumption is a right and not a privilege. When people suggest they need 25 bucks an hour to live I would love to see just what they actually spend in a month on everything. I think they would be surprised on how much they waste. Places like the Netherlands does well with a socialized system because they have evolved into a minimalist society and so don't need much cash wise in their life. Very small flats, not much in them, many ride bikes over having a car, just enough clothing etc...

originally posted by: ketsuko
a reply to: dffrntkndfnml

Another thing to consider when we talk about unions, is that very often, they will be the ones driving hardest for minimum wage increases in any area, not because their members are really making it tough in that area or because they actually care about any non-union minimum wage employee. They probably know that raising minimum wages suddenly and drastically across the board actually harms minimum wage workers in many places, but most unions have it written into their contracts that their pay rates are figured based off prevailing minimum wage. So their workers who already make above minimum wage will suddenly make much more above minimum wage with such an increase.

So any hike like that does far more damage all across the board.

A lot of people cry that our minimum wage rates are still mostly below $8 out where I live, but in reality, almost nowhere actually pays that base rate except maybe to the most basic workers and those are mostly part-time and not actually trying to support family (high school or college; older workers supplementing retirement; moms earning a bit part-time) as a career, but by pushing for a Federal $15 minimum or local $15 minimum that happens suddenly, you are both suddenly doubling pay rates everywhere *and* suddenly and drastically increasing union employee pay rates as well. That has huge implications on any local economy.

Minimum wage is really not a pay as much as it is a reference number used in pay calculations as you say. I think I read like 2% of jobs pay minimum wage and they also have tips as part of their pay. A huge increase to 15 would see millions of jobs disappear and many in non-union positions would see zero increases, so someone working for 15 per hour for 5 years would see new people come in at 15 right at the start as they will be the one to train them. Companies will pay about 35 to 38% of their gross for income whether they pay 8 or 15 per hour., so you would see the work force cut down and more part time positions open. This means that you would go from 10 bucks an hour for 40 to 50 hours a week with benefits to 15 bucks an hour for a max 20 hours per week with ZERO benefits. That 35% to 38% doesn't really shift, so something else gives in the end.

You lost your 400 to 500 per week job with benefits and now you can only make 300 per week without benefits... Maybe get two part time jobs without benefits, but in either case you are in no way better off.