Posted on 12/13/2019 4:37:49 AM PST by karpov
This city’s minimum wage is rising to $16.39 an hour on Jan. 1. Instead of receiving a bigger paycheck, I’m left without any pay at all due to the policy change. That’s because the restaurant where I’ve worked for six years is closing as a consequence of the city’s harmful minimum-wage experiment.
I work for Tom Douglas, one of the best-known restaurateurs in Seattle. Mr. Douglas is in many ways responsible for the city’s reputation as a foodie paradise, and he recently celebrated his 30th anniversary in business. He’s a great boss, and his employees tend to stay at the company for a long time.
But being an established chef and a good employer doesn’t save you from the burden of a sharp minimum-wage increase, up 73% from $9.47 in 2015. For large-scale employers like Mr. Douglas, there’s no separate rate for workers who earn tips. In Washington and a handful of other states, tips aren’t counted as income earned on the job. That means restaurateurs are expected to pay servers like me the full minimum wage in addition to our considerable tip income.
When rent is too high, labor costs too much, and customers don’t want to pay $40 for a roast-chicken entree, the only way for many operators to ease the pain is to close.
So now, after six years working at Mr. Douglas’s restaurant Tanakasan, I need to find a new work home. My first thought was to go back to Sitka & Spruce, a restaurant where I had once worked. (I previously had to take on a second job there after the rising minimum wage forced Tanakasan to adopt a no-tipping payment model, drastically reducing my income.)
As it turns out, I can’t return to Sitka & Spruce. [It is closing too.]
(Excerpt) Read more at wsj.com ...
The left is in the process of destroying one of the greatest food cities in America.
I want my reparations from each and every leftist!
But you’ll still march right out and pull the lever for any Dem with promises of free stuff. Embrace the suck. Oh, yeah, and learn to code.
Sort of what FDR did when he instituted Social Security; businesses folded because of the increase tax and workers fired and those that were able to work had less income. This was in 1936 when the country was slowly coming out of the Depression. That Act put it back in even deeper and didn’t come out of it until we entered WW2.
Gee. This is unexpected.
What a great way to win people over to your side when they're just awakening to the realities of socialist policies. Don't forget that Ronald Reagan was once a leftist union activist, but eventually saw the truth and became the greatest Conservative leader of his time. From the Apostle Paul to Whittaker Chambers to Ronald Reagan, converts have proven to be the most convinced and convincing advocates. We should welcome them along their paths.
Why not cast her off?
She lives in Seattle and is therefore my political enemy
If she lives in Seattle not only must she accept the consequences but is in reality a fool for not leaving
Co existence is no longer a worthy goal. Co existence is harmful, bad.
I just got into an argument with a leftist from Seattle who claimed the stories of businesses closing due to the high minimum wage is a lie promoted by the Right wing Trumpers. This Lunatic Liberal kept arguing that Seattle will grow because of the wages. I told him - see you in 4 years and you can tell me the real story.
“I’m proudly progressive in my politics...minimum-wage laws...hurt the very workers they’re trying to protect.”
...she’s also a “useful idiot”. Casting her vote that hurts her interests directly. Her quote actually makes her a “beyond stupid, useful idiot”.
Your insistence on kumbaya is getting President trump impeached.
There can be no coexistence in the future. No live and let live. The Leftists must be absolutely and finally destroyed.
Kumbaya will get you a spot in the arena and eaten by lionsi
There is no “kumbaya” in a civil discussion of ideas, nor is there anything appealing about scorning someone for choosing to stay where they live. The author of this article has had an “Aha!” moment after experiencing the bitter result of one of the socialists’ leading policies - the destruction of a once-thriving restaurant business that provided services and employment to many people. I hope his epiphany is shared by many others, and that they will come to believe like we do and join us in turning this country around.
There wasn’t one economist who is honest who isn’t saying “I told you do”. Still, if you think this is bad, wait until Warrens tax on wealth hits the street.
Complete economic idiots pandering to voters who are (and will continue to) lose their jobs.
bookmark
“Ever try to tip someone in Costco? They won’t take it. It will cost them their jobs”
I threw out my back on Thanksgiving, therefore I was useless to load my Christmas tree onto my car at Home Depot. I tried tipping the guy working the lot and he refused. He said they were not allowed to accept tips. Strange in that last year at the same Home Depot it was no issue. New policy or maybe HD was using contract workers in previous years?
Capitalists and entrepreneurs have a way around things.
This is a common trait running through liberal ideas and legislation.
My previous post to you somehow lost it’s sarcasm tag.
The author of this article has had an “Aha!” moment after experiencing the bitter result of one of the socialists’ leading policies -
Nope. The author is a union thug that apparently is upset that unions have nothing to negotiate now. The high “minimum” wage trumps everything else.
The true minimum wage is ZERO.
Socialist believe business get to keep every dollar spent in their business. They don’t seem to understand that a person is in business to make a profit. Profit is what is left after all the expenses are paid.
By mandating a minimum wage the business owner only has three choices. Raise prices, cut other expenses (and that may be an employee), or go out of business.
The problem with raising prices is that their customers may decide that their product has become too expensive and stop buying. If they cut other expensive then their service will suffer and their customers will stop coming into their business.
This is not brain surgery. Capitalism works best with few laws and regulations. The market will determine price and cost. Whenever a government tries to control the market, the market fails (or nations fail, I am talking to you Soviet Union and Venezuela )
I predict the tax base for Seattle will go down as businesses close and people move away.
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