LETTER: Raise the minimum wage

Montgomerynews.com ^

[Phillyred]

Should we raise the minimum wage? In my opinion, yes.

Presently, profits, productivity and the stock market are at or near record levels. But for some reason the great American capitalists can’t afford to pay their employees more than $7.25 per hour. That’s a hard story to swallow.

Meanwhile the average salary of a CEO is close to 400 times what his or her employee earns. If anything, it’s the CEOs we can’t afford, not the workers.

And did we not have to bail out these same unregulated Wall Street capitalists as they crashed the economy, destroying millions of jobs as a result? Some job creators they are!

So yes, we should absolutely raise the minimum wage immediately, adjust it annually for inflation and show hard-working Americans that capitalism can also benefit them. Better yet, adjust wages annually as a percentage of CEO salaries, and let capitalism work for all, not just the privileged.

Glenn Gawinowicz

Oreland

[Scrambler Bob]

Raze the minimum wage.

[albie]

Another proud graduate of the Helen Keller School of Economics.

[rktman]

Yup. Everybody ought to make the exact same wages as the (p)otus. And with the same perks too. After all, it appears that he isn’t doing anything to EARN his pay check.

[2ndDivisionVet]

LETTER: Raise Eliminate the minimum wage

[Kartographer]

Raise it to a Billion Dollars and hour and everyone can then work for one hour and be set for life.

[Yosemitest]

Suckers !
IDIOTS !

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?"

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.

[Maceman]

So yes, we should absolutely raise the minimum wage immediately, adjust it annually for inflation and show hard-working Americans that capitalism can also benefit them. Better yet, adjust wages annually as a percentage of CEO salaries, and let capitalism work for all, not just the privileged.

Just unbelievable. Let the government set prices -- good ole capitalism. I just know this person is a college graduate.

Oy.

[C210N]

show hard-working Americans union members that capitalism can also benefit them...

[GeronL]

We need to write sarcastic letters to the editor calling for the minimum wage to be $1,000 per hour.

[fruser1]

Letter to Glen:

If you don’t like what companies pay, open your own company and you are free to pay your employees as much as you want.

[Jack Hydrazine]

$55/hour sounds about right!

[Robert DeLong]

I'm on board with that. Heck I'll even work an 8 hour day for two weeks /sarcasm 8>)

Of course I demand to continue working from home!!!!

[Rusty0604]

When I worked for a public employees union in CA, they honestly thought that the paper pushers that decided eligibility for medical should earn more than the doctors that provided the medical care. Taken straight from the USSR playbook.

The sad part of it is the legislators agreed; kept cutting the doctor’s pay and increasing the wages and benefits for the paper pushers.

[Georgia Girl 2]

Its comforting to know that there are constants in life. The Socialist/Marxist party line being one of them. You always know what to expect.

[Alex Murphy]

Presently, profits, productivity and the stock market are at or near record levels. But for some reason the great American capitalists can’t afford to pay their employees more than $7.25 per hour. That’s a hard story to swallow.

It certainly is. There's no way that profits and productivity are at record levels.

[PeteB570]

Get the chick working at the fast food drive through to get my order right and I’ll consider it.

Until then - she’s overpaid right now for the service she performs.

[Red Badger]

Yes, the Karl Marx Chair......................

[Buckeye McFrog]

80% of Americans would agree with his sophistry.

What he proposes will eventually be done. And likely Republicans will do it.

[Jack Hammer]

Great, we don’t have enough inflation as it is.

The minimum wage is supposed to be an entry-level pay scale, not a career-maker.