[stylin19a]

i'm not for mandated wages.
This article has me scratchin my head.

Only 2.5 percent of all hourly workers make $5.15 an hour ...says the Department of Labor. "Minimum wage workers tend to be young."

If this statement is true, then the effect of the increase of minimum wage should be negligible.
There must be something more to this being such a big-deal.

[george76]

The big deal is the politics.

The politicans can say that they are helping the poor.

The old media goes along with the theatre by writing articles on how this helps the poor.

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A few like Walter Williams, John Stossel, and Thomas Sowell see thru the smoke...

[Cheburashka]

If this statement is true, then the effect of the increase of minimum wage should be negligible.
There must be something more to this being such a big-deal.
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The minimum wage is a benchmark. If it goes up 20%, all the union guys are supposed to get a 20% increase in their wages, so they stay ahead of the minimum wage guys. See how it works?

[NonValueAdded]

Yes, there is ... all the jobs that are indexed off the minimum wage. Who do you think makes the contributions to the RAT party, the minimum wage earners or the unions? See #4. There are also the liberal northeast states with their higher minimum wages tired of losing companies to states with lower minimums. A national standard helps to dampen that effect. Meanwhile, what was that teen unemployment rate in the inner cities again?

[Kickass Conservative]

Very simple. When you raise the pay of workers without increasing their productivity, it has an effect on those productive workers currently making the higher wage. Since they produce more, their wages must be moved up as well. This flows right up the latter. No gravity problem here. The union bosses know this, so look for some major contract demands in the next few years. Wage costs increasing without any increase in productivity will only increase the threat of inflation. But hey, it feels good, right?