Regardless of the minimum wage and whether these people are going to get any increase or not... A different fight, a more fundamental one, has been going on and will continue to go on that strikes a heart at our labor sector.
1. These jobs, one by one, are going to go away. Maybe not all of them, but many of them, never to return unless we suddenly lose our ability to use technology.
2. Some people, no matter what, seem to be unable to cope with more than doing simple, though still hard, labor. It could be that education in this country for a specific segment of this country (minorities) really sucks. It could be the endemic racial aspect of our society, that despite denials, is still very much alive. It could also be the fact that it is, also despite some examples in this thread of moving up from these types of jobs to better and better ones, that it _is_ hard to move up the economic ladder.
3. There are many indications that there will be larger and larger segments of the population that don't have jobs, some permanently. The very young, the very old are obvious. But also people who have gone to jail, for even minor offenses continually to find it harder to get jobs. Those who only do labor. The uneducated. The sick. Etc.
4. At some point the above will become so overwhelming that it degrades the economy and/or the peace.
Given the above I think the fundamental fight won't be over the minimum wage, but over a negative income tax. Instead of mandating people be paid a certain wage, instead of having a convoluted subsidy system, our tax system is able to go into the negative such that no matter what people are able to afford to live a basic life. Not a lavish one, but at least one that supports them and a child.
Will some people stop working and just lazily live off the basic income? Yep, but so be it. They won't be living an enviable life, unless of course that minimalist life is the one you want. Plenty of people are still going to want to strive and thrive. Plenty of people are going to want to innovate, learn, explore, advance. Let those that can't or wont at least have the possibility of surviving _above_ abject poverty in the streets.
Will some people overspend on gadgets, or food, or drugs? Yep, but so be it. A proper negative income tax gives people everyone who needs it nearly every possibility for them to live, if they choose to throw that away, we can at least finally say we did something to address the problem.
A negative income tax could finally do something to address the excessive inequality and the probably inevitable future where there just are not enough jobs for every able bodied person. The minimum wage does nothing really to address anything anymore except that it is a talking point for pointless talking heads and politicians to wrangle about.
A warrior keeps death on the mind from the moment of their first breath to the moment of their last.
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