| JOKA_ said: If minimum wage is bumped to $15 then this whole system goes out of whack. All of a sudden the low level people who were making $10 are now making $15...but so is the high school kid flipping burgers at McDonalds. Is the company going to raise the starting rate to $17 so that starting pay is still slightly above minimum wage (as it was before). Well how about the people in the next higher department who were making $15 an hour? They used to be making almost double minimum wage and now they are 1) Making minimum wage and 2) Making as much money as people in the lower department. Should they get bumped up to $22 to keep the original $5 difference? |
I've wrestled with this point for a bit. That's the only reason why I do not agree with raising minimum wages. What does need to happen is they need tiered wages. Full time employees need a different wage bracket while part timers need a lower bracket. Once you have this bracket you raise both based on inflation, etc. The problem though is that businesses are a run by a bunch of pricks and would rather have a business run with part timers making minimum wage than to suck up the extra cost from their billions of dollar profits (Smaller businesses are different, but that's when the government steps in for support).
Edit: I've read a bit more on the thread. Raising minimum wage doesn't inherently damage the economy, but rather it would help raise it. More people with more money to spend will spend it. This in turn puts money back into businesses. This is the big mistake corporations make; their knee jerk reaction to a lagging economy is to cut wages and employees
The other point I'd like to raise is the "job" mentality. I have a university degree in computer science. I also work part time at a grocery store. I've worked equally hard at both jobs. One job involved me making apps for businesses, the other involves me stocking food for people to purchase. One job is vital for living while the other isn't. Why should I get paid more at my IT job while it's not a vital sector and get paid less at my grocery job? I work just as hard at both jobs, and someone working at the same job I'm working working just as hard should get paid just as much. For the record my IT job didn't actually pay that well and wasn't much higher than what I would make full time at the grocery store.
