iirc most union labor rates are some multiple of the minimum wage, so it the min-wage goes up, they demand a raise also...
Posted on 07/24/2012 6:25:17 PM PDT by Sir Napsalot
A group of prominent economists today urged President Obama and congressional leaders to raise the federal minimum wage, which has been stuck at $7.25 an hour for three years. In a letter to the president and lawmakers they wrote:
A higher minimum wage at this juncture will not only provide raises for low-wage workers but would provide some help on the jobs front as well.
The group, including Nobel Laureate Joseph Stiglitz, a professor at Columbia University; former Labor Secretary Robert Reich; and Lawrence Mishel, president of the Economic Policy Institute (EPI), advocate a three-step raise of 85 cents a year for three years—which would mean a minimum wage of $9.80 by 2014—and then indexing to protect against inflation. They estimate close to 20 million workers would see a wage increase by 2014.
They also note that recent studies on the effect of increases in the minimum wage on employment show:
increases in the minimum wage have had little or no negative effect on the employment of minimum wage workers, even during times of weakness in the labor market. Click here for the full letter.
In related news, a coalition of groups, including the AFL-CIO, will hold a day of action tomorrow in more than 30 cities supporting legislation Sen. Tom Harkin (D-Iowa) and Rep. George Miller (D-Calif.) will soon introduce to increase the minimum wage to $9.80 as the economists call for.
Click here for a list of cities and here for more information on the minimum wage from the National Employment Law Project (NELP).
Bingo! And that's THE ONLY reason the commie piggies in the unions would like to see a minimum wage increase. They can bellyache about the minimum wagers getting more money and then demand more money for themselves.
iirc most union labor rates are some multiple of the minimum wage, so it the min-wage goes up, they demand a raise also...
Minimum wage laws help NO ONE in the long run. By interfering with contract rights and personal freedom, choice is reduced and employment opportunities diminished.
Who suffers most? Those at the low end of the wage scale who are robbed of the self-respect that comes with employment, robbed of the chance to learn the habit of responsibility, and robbed of the chance to build experience and value in the workplace.
Minimum wage laws were NEVER intended to help the working poor; they were intended to price young black Americans out of the labor market, and turn them from citizens into government clients. All to the immediate benefit of the Democrat Plantation Party.
I'm glad they broke that promise.
Federal minimum wage went up in early 2009. Anyone remember what happened to ‘low wage workers’ then?
The Republican House should send the Senate a bill that raises the minimum wage by $5.00 per hour (or maybe $10) effective next week and expiring the day after the election. What would Dems do with that?
I have little doubt a minimum wage boost would help a lot of workers. Of course, it would also hurt a lot of workers by throwing them out of jobs, and hurt a lot of folks who aren’t yet workers by pricing them out of their part-time summer or after-school job. Of course the 60 million plus kids who lose a chance at work experience don’t vote and neither they nor the minimum wage workers who’d lose their jobs pay union dues.
Union wages are based on a percentage above minimum wage.....the union thugs benefit from an increase in min. wage....you don’t!!
Minimum wage increases just seem like a clever way the government uses to increase tax revenue. Who benefits?
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