Minimum Wage Bills Pushed in at Least 30 States

Associated Press ^ | Jan. 26, 2014 11:36 AM EST | Michael Hill

[Olog-hai]

Minimum-wage increase proposals are getting the maximum push from Democrats in statehouses in more than half of U.S. states, highlighting the politically potent income inequality issue this year.

Lawmakers in at least 30 states are sponsoring or are expected to introduce wage hike measures, according to a national review by The Associated Press. They hope to notch state-level victories as President Barack Obama and congressional Democrats remain stymied in attempts to raise the federal minimum wage above $7.25 an hour. The president is expected to mention the minimum wage in his State of the Union address Tuesday.

Even in Republican-dominated capitals where the bills are long shots, the measures still give Democrats a chance to hammer home the popular theme of fair wages in what is an election year in most places. …

[Fee]

Dems picked a good issue that GOP needs to watch carefully. Future trends show that technology will allow for further automation of the workplace. Up to 40 percent of current jobs can be automated. It will happen even if wages are low because corporations can do it. Robots can work 24/7, are very precise, and you do not have to provide it with healthcare, etc etc etc. That means more Americans will be unemployed while the labor savings will be pocketed by the corporation and bonuses will increase for CEO and exec staff. Income gap will grow with automation because the wealth and profit will be shared with fewer people, the employed and the ones on top. Income inequality will become an issue as time goes on and automation proceeds. Dems recognize this and are getting ahead of it, while the GOP assumes it will go away.

[Steve_Seattle]

What is your solution? Will raising the minimum wage a couple of bucks solve “income inequality”?

[Yosemitest]

Minimum-wage increase proposals are NOT about minimum wages.
It's about UNION wages (read government employees mostly) and UNION DUES.
Like "Artie" on another thread wrote.

"but my theory is that
this is one of the foundations of single payer.
Down the road, as single payer replaces ObamaCare,
all healthcare workers will become in essence government employees.
Think about how many thousands of new, dues paying union members will magically become part of the SEIU.

Barry had sealed this deal with Andy Stern years ago.
Barry promised Andy and the SEIU thousands of new members,
Andy says
great,
this is the wage structure we need
so we can pay the slush fund.
Gotta pay a living wage to all of the new union members
so dues can be extracted
and kickbacks to the dems can be made.
It’s convoluted
but what dem scheme isn’t,
especially when large sums of cash are involved?"
I'll say this:
"You're WELL AHEAD of the crowd,
in thinking out the corruption
behind this "FALSE FLAG" ! "

So read the following:

Union Support Of Minimum Wage Hike Is Self-Interested

Mary Kay Henry, president of the Service Employees International Union, ... was quick to emphasize that her organization's support of a more-than-twofold increase in the minimum wage was "not about growing unions."

This may be true — but it's also undeniable that such a move would have a profound impact on growing union paychecks, even if those unions don't count a single minimum-wage employee in their ranks.

The fine print can be found in union contracts. Each year, the Department of Labor's Office of Labor-Management Standards (OLMS) releases a number of union collective bargaining agreements (CBAs).

Unsurprisingly, many CBAs available in the OLMS database LINK union salaries and wage rates to the federal minimum wage. There are a number of methods that unions use to accomplish this end. The two most popular appear to be setting baseline union wages as a percentage above the minimum wage, and mandating a flat wage at a set level above the minimum wage.

One example is a series of CBAs signed with the Union of Needletrades, Industrial and Textile Employees (UNITE). Their contracts mandated that
"(w)henever the federal legal minimum wage is increased, minimum wage (in the agreement) shall be increased so that each will be at least fifteen (15%) percent higher than such legal minimum wage."

There's also an SEIU local's contract, which ordered that
"(t)he minimum hourly wage rates shall exceed any statutory applicable minimum wage rate by 50 cents."

Some unions have also arranged contracts where the employer MUST renegotiate their contracts in case of a minimum-wage hike, NO MATTER HOW LONG is left on the pact's life span.

The possibility for abuse here is staggering:
Unions with average wages WELL ABOVE the minimum wage CAN INSERT such clauses into their contracts, FORCING negotiations in industries not otherwise affected by a wage hike.

Given the limited number of CBAs available in the OLMS database, it's impossible to determine just how widespread this practice is.

But at least one union has trumpeted this arrangement as "one of the many advantages of being a union member."

Earlier this year on its blog, the United Food and Commercial Workers International Union proudly boasted that "oftentimes, union contracts ARE TRIGGERED TO IMPLEMENT WAGE HIKES IN CASE OF MINIMUM WAGE INCREASES."

This is a stunning admission of SELF-INTERESTt for an organization that's actively PUSHING minimum-wage hikes at both the state and federal levels of government.

It also raises questions about unions' growing use of nonunion "worker centers" like the Restaurant Opportunities Center, OUR Walmart, Fast Food Forward and other organizations that have made headlines in recent months.

These groups advocate many policies that would affect those businesses that pay a minimum wage — restaurants, retailers, etc. — and a minimum-wage hike is often the FIRST demand that these union front groups make. This only casts further suspicion on the motives of the labor unions funding these groups.

No matter how you look at it, the benefits that these unions stand to reap from a minimum-wage hike should raise questions about their real motives — and whether they're only manipulating the debate over fast-food wages for their own benefit.

Berman is the executive director at the Center for Union Facts.

[2ndDivisionVet]

And we ain’t one of ‘em. We have jobs here and if you’re stuck at the minimum wage, maybe there’s a reason for that.

[Olog-hai]

Don’t mislabel job loss as “income inequality”. The latter means the socialist goal of grabbing from “the rich” and handing the wealth previously held thereby to “the poor”.

The GOP is complicit with the Dems. They’ve worked hard to sideline conservatives and are all about the one-party state.

[2ndDivisionVet]

Robot hamburger factory makes 360 Gourmet Burgers every hour...
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-bloggers/3100817/posts

[grania]

Automation is inevitable, but people will want personal attention if it's done right. There has to be an increase in minimum wage, at least to the point where two adults living in one residence can be self-sufficient.

A more important priority is assuring that US jobs go to US citizens. Send home all invaders and all other non-citizens who are doing jobs US citizens could do. EVerify all jobs.

Supporting the minimum wage as it is now is a disaster in the making. It'll allow the dems to campaign on how much most US citizens are suffering while the rich get richer and more powerful. Better to campaign on how the dems want foreigners to take jobs from hard-working US citizens.

[Fee]

Picture the scenario. Automation replaces 40 percent of current jobs, including good tech jobs. The jobs leftover have more applicants then openings. Income drops. How do you think the ones who just lost their good paying job to a robot, and now facing prospect of a job with low pay is going to react to a socialist politician? Read how Hitler and Mao came to power. Economic conditions play a key role in their rise. Dems are going to use living wage as an issue, what will the GOP offer the worker?

[2ndDivisionVet]

The Descamisado or Shirtless Ones.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Descamisado

[palmer]

Dems picked a good issue that GOP needs to watch carefully.

Both of them picked the Federal Reserve to print up money and give to them to spend. As long as that continues, there will be no economic recovery and there will be gross widening of the "income" gap as the Fed and the politicians prefer handing money to the already wealthy in the lame hope that they will invest and create jobs. Instead there is more speculation and more inequality.

[jonrick46]

This is how the unions will pick up on more money coming in from union wages being raised accordingly. Higher wages means more income from dues. The money will support Democrat races.

[faithhopecharity]

Less and less jobs. More and more people forced onto the dole. And since minimum wage jobs are a big part of giving people their first employment opportunities, many folks will never even get started working. But that’s ok. Obammy will give them all “ free” birth control with their welfare cheques, good stamps , and free obamaphones. An entire generation of Sandra flukes. The “ transformation of AmerikaSSR”.

[Gene Eric]

The increase for one employee will cost another 3 months of health care insurance.

[Foundahardheadedwoman]

Years ago I read that in the 1950’s the average CEO made 25 times the average pay of the average line worker. Course this was when we actually made things, not like now when moving paper around seems to be the main source of income.

I am interested in finding out if the ratio I remember was accurate and what the ratio is at this time. 300 times, 1000 times, what is your guess and where would such numbers be kept, if they are at all? I really don’t care what the magic number is because there will always be income inequality. Jesus said the poor will always be with you. That tells me the whole debate is phony.

[maddog55]

There’s no such thing s income inequality and low paying jobs are a training ground if you want to learn.

There is income capability. You get paid based on your capabilities to perform and your want and need to get ahead in life.

We’re all born equal, what you choose to do with that is up to you.

[Steve_Seattle]

I repeat - what is your solution?

[SECURE AMERICA]

the politically potent income inequality issue this year

If the Democrats think they are getting hammered on Obamacare just wait until they start yapping about this day and night.
If jobs are produced income will be had. Talking about income inequilty will not put food on anyones table.......

[SECURE AMERICA]

Future trends show that technology will allow for further automation of the workplace.

As has happened numerous times in history.
We no longer have bugy whip factories and probably few buggy factories.. Not much need for TV antenna factories anymore..

[mazda77]

Fee’s solution is the same as it was for the makers of the wagon wheel, buck skin coats, buggy whips and so forth. We didn’t get to the moon with buggy whips. We got there by pressing technology, but nobody cares about all the spinoffs that came from it now are they?

http://spinoff.nasa.gov/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NASA_spin-off_technologies

New technology requires not so much for someone to operate it, but more so for someone to design, build and maintain it. People like Fee have this problem of zero sum thinking without a whit of sense about how he/she/it manages to turn on their computers or what went into making it react in such a manner. Nothing but a bunch of petulant fools who are forever looking for the problem instead of focusing on a solution.