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Minimum Wage
By fonewear 2015-03-23 13:48:33
It seems like people can't just be happy with what they have. They always have to compare themselves to others and want more and more while making themselves miserable in the process.
Just be happy with what you have.
When in doubt appeal to feels !
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By fonewear 2015-03-23 13:49:01
Money can't buy you happiness it is true. But it can buy you a jet ski and isn't that what having money is all about !
By fonewear 2015-03-23 13:51:07
Think Socrates wrote "The unexamined life is not worth living"
Translation to modern times: The life without jet skis isn't worth living !
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By Shiva.Onorgul 2015-03-23 13:53:51
Because 'cost of living' as all of you are preaching is not a 1 size fits all. It's a calculable average, though.
Yeah, the 400 lb. monstrosity with half a dozen chronic diseases who can barely walk half a mile is going to have a much higher cost-of-living than the average 20-year-old who still thinks Top Ramen is food, but we get numbers for things like SNAP (food stamps) by looking at the buying power of a dollar and how much a person needs to live on in a month.
Incidentally, last I checked SNAP figures about $50 a week for a single person, which is, not coincidentally, just about what I spend weekly on my personal food budget. I do indulge an extra tenner for my caffeine habit.
If you're trying to make some point that the cost of rent in NYC is very different from the cost of rent in Biloxi, sure, that's true. And that does support your idea that a minimum should be a local thing.
Except then logic and cynicism walk in the door, hand-in-hand, and point out that since local politics are so much easier to manipulate, it would be very easy to, say, take over the city council in Boston (a city with a notoriously high cost-of-living) and declare the minimum wage is now $2/hour and *** you if you die. Also, remember that you're still required to pay into your health insurance.
By fonewear 2015-03-23 13:54:35
Look you can keep your fancy economic facts just appeal to my feels !
I want to feel again !
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By Shiva.Onorgul 2015-03-23 14:10:30
It seems like people can't just be happy with what they have. They always have to compare themselves to others and want more and more while making themselves miserable in the process.
Just be happy with what you have. This relates to an interesting point I've been wanting to bring up.
Studies, and remember that studies are always open to a certain amount of skepticism and debate, have suggested that there's a maximum level of income past which one's personal happiness does not meaningfully increase and, indeed, may start to decrease. In current US dollars, that figure may be as low as $75,000 per year (note: I'm not sure if these findings were for an individual or also accounted for the number of dependents one may have).
So how about the idea of a maximum wage? Or, more accurately, maximum compensation, as many people stop drawing a wage after it crests above, what, $25/hour?
Before people lose their minds, it's been done before. Salary caps for professional sports teams spring instantly to mind, but maximum wages were also implemented during WWII in the United States. The government worried that employers would start offering more and more compensation to snipe workers from one another and from vital government projects (i.e., Manhattan Project or the grist mill of killing young men in the name of old men's wars), so maximum compensations were determined. In order to continue business as usual, because nothing short of a gunshot to the brain stem can shift some people's thinking, many companies started offering benefits, particularly health insurance, that had previously been a private matter.
Even without the ACA (indeed, this is part of why ACA was written), as the power in the economy has drained from workers into the hands of the owners again, those benefits that we'd become acculturated to were rapidly disappearing, along with the monetary compensation. We, as a country, have done so well by bleeding the middle class dry, leaving them without discretionary funds, healthcare, or anything else to prove they're still middle class. This, of course, all happened in the post-war years when the compensation caps were removed.
So why not implement them? Take away the minimum wage laws to do it, so long as it's made clear that the income of a chief executive cannot, by any traceable means, exceed $300,000 annually. Is there anyone on the PLANET who can't live comfortably on 300 grand a year? And I do mean a hard cap, so no fiddling around with benefits or stock options or all the other cute implements used to trick the IRS (reforming the tax code into something less draconian wouldn't hurt, while we're at it). If CompanyX isn't pissing away half its profit to its executives and majority shareholders, it'll have to go somewhere. Like, say, training better workers or investing in necessary improvements or, heaven forbid, actually paying people a fraction of the profits they're creating.
Pie-in-the-sky stuff, I know.
 Bahamut.Omael
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By Bahamut.Omael 2015-03-23 14:41:09
So why not implement them?
A combination of Jesus, bootstraps, and "job creators".
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By fonewear 2015-03-23 14:42:50
Jesus wore sandals though ! So you'd have to pull yourself up by the sandals !
Bahamut.Omael
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By Bahamut.Omael 2015-03-23 14:43:56
Jesus wore sandals though ! So you'd have to pull yourself up by the sandals !
We'll call them sandalstraps! Patent pending.
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By fonewear 2015-03-23 14:45:19
The idea of limiting executive pay to 300,000 just won't happen.
 Leviathan.Chaosx
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By Leviathan.Chaosx 2015-04-01 20:21:59
Quote: April is here which means thousands of Walmart workers are about to get a raise.
Earlier this year, the retailing giant announced it would pay its hourly employees a minimum of $9 per hour starting this month and plans to up the minimum to $10 per hour in 2016 for all workers who complete a six-month training period.
Walmart received a ton of positive attention for its announcement, including from President Obama who called CEO Doug McMillon from Air Force One to commend him for the act, which other chains such as Target have copied.
But not everyone is satisfied with Walmart's actions when it comes to wages.
"It's certainly a good thing to up people's pay, there's no question about it [but] this company has a long way to go to provide a livable wage," says Frank Clemente, executive director at Americans for Tax Fairness, a non-profit group that supports progressive tax reform.
Walmart spokesman Kory Lundberg told Yahoo Finance that Walmart is "proud to have some of the highest starting salaries in retail,"adding it was "hard to comment" on the ATF report as he hadn't had a chance to review. (The report was embargoed until Wednesday 12:01 a.m. ET)
Lundberg did say Walmart has employees with a full scope of lifestyles, from high school students to retirees, suggesting it was unfair to focus on a specific profile as representative.
In addition to higher wages, he noted Walmart is also investing in "scheduling and training" for workers to give them "more control" over their hours. The goal is to provide employees "the skills and training to move up at Walmart or somewhere else and get a job beyond entry level," Lundberg said. Quote: McDonald’s Corp. plans to raise pay by more than 10% and add benefits like paid vacation for workers at U.S. restaurants it operates, an effort to rejuvenate the struggling fast-food giant that offers fresh evidence of rising wage pressure in the American labor market.
Starting July 1, McDonald’s will pay at least $1 per hour more than the local legal minimum wage for employees at the roughly 1,500 restaurants it owns in the U.S. The increase, which McDonald’s said will apply to some 90,000 workers at all levels of experience and rank, will lift the average hourly rate for its U.S. restaurant employees to $9.90 on July 1 and more than $10 by the end of 2016, from $9.01 currently. McDonald’s also will enable workers after a year of employment to accrue up to five days of paid time-off annually.
The changes come amid mounting criticism from labor groups over wages and conditions at McDonald’s and other fast-food chains. The move doesn’t apply to employees of the franchisees who operate nearly 90% of the 14,350 U.S. McDonald’s—a fact critics may seize on. McDonald’s says franchisees are free to set their own pay policies. The company said it does plan to make subsidies for some education costs available to all U.S. workers as part of its plan.
McDonald’s Chief Executive Steve Easterbrook, who took over on March 1, said the policy is a response to employee surveys and is central to his plans to revive sales after more than two years of declines. “What we need to underpin that is highly motivated teams in our restaurants,” he said in an interview. “Motivated teams deliver better customer service and delivering better customer service in our restaurants is clearly going to be a vital part of our turnaround.”
The move follows similar efforts by other major U.S. employers including Wal-Mart Stores Inc., which is raising hourly pay for 500,000 workers to at least $10 next year, and reflects wider public pressures over income inequality as well as intensifying competition for low-skilled workers.
omg what a surprise...
Quote: In a few weeks, Seattle’s new, highest in the country, $15 per hour minimum wage will go into effect. Like many liberal policies, it was passed by City Hall with the best of intentions. The only problem is, in the end, it may do more harm than good for many.
Private businesses, unlike government entities (which, in theory, can always raise taxes or borrow), must make more than they spend in order to pay the rent, make payroll, keep the lights on, pay their business taxes, and, heaven forbid, have some left over for the owners and investors who are taking the risk and putting in the long hours.
Earlier this month, Seattle Magazine asked, Why Are So Many Seattle Restaurants Closing Lately?:
Last month—and particularly last week— Seattle foodies were downcast as the blows kept coming: Queen Anne’s Grub closed February 15. Pioneer Square’s Little Uncle shut down February 25. Shanik’s Meeru Dhalwala announced that it will close March 21. Renée Erickson’s Boat Street Café will shutter May 30 after 17 years with her at the helm…What the #*%&$* is going on? A variety of things, probably—and a good chance there is more change to come.
The magazine went on to report that one “major factor affecting restaurant futures in our city is the impending minimum wage hike.” Anthony Anton, president and CEO of Washington Restaurant Association, told the magazine, “It’s not a political problem; it’s a math problem.” He estimates that restaurants usually have a budget breakdown of about 36 percent for labor, 30 percent for food costs, and 30 percent to cover other operational costs. That leaves 4 percent for a profit margin. When labor costs shoot up to say 42 percent, something has to give.
Restaurants can take actions to adjust, such as raise their prices, acquire cheaper ingredients, and cut their operating hours and labor force. However, all those actions generate reactions from the public which can still lead to lower revenues for the restaurant and, for some, the decision to close their doors.
The Washington Policy Center explains:
When prices rise consumers seek alternatives, a behavior economists call the “substitution effect,” which results in lower demand for the higher-priced product. In the case of restaurants, consumers have access to the ultimate substitution – they can stay home.
A spokesman for the Washington Restaurant Association told the Washington Policy Center, “Every [restaurant] operator I’m talking to is in panic mode, trying to figure out what the new world will look like.”
Seattle had a foretaste of the effect of the $15 minimum wage earlier this year when Prop 1, which made a $15 minimum wage for those working in parking garages and hotels near Seattle-Tacoma International Airport, took effect. A reporter asked a cleaning woman and a part-time banquet server, who work in a hotel near SEATAC, what they thought of the new law:
The cleaning woman responded, “It sounds good, but it’s not good,”
“Why?” I asked.
“I lost my 401k, health insurance, paid holiday, and vacation,” she responded. “No more free food,” she added.
The hotel used to feed her. Now, she has to bring her own food. Also, no overtime, she said. She used to work extra hours and received overtime pay.
“What else?” I asked.
“I have to pay for parking,” she said.
I then asked the part-time waitress, who was part of the catering staff.
“Yes, I’ve got $15 an hour, but all my tips are now much less,” she said. Before the new wage law was implemented, her hourly wage was $7. But her tips added to more than $15 an hour. Yes, she used to receive free food and parking. Now, she has to bring her own food and pay for parking.
The Seattle Times reported that a Clarion Hotel recently made the decision to close its full service restaurant (laying off 15 people) and let go of a night desk clerk and a maintenance worker. It also plans to raise its rates by 10 percent to offset increased labor costs.
As the April 1 deadline approaches, the residents of Seattle will have a front row seat to the effects of the $15 per hour minimum wage, but early indicators suggest it will not be as positive as City Hall intended.
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