Posted on 07/31/2015 3:44:29 PM PDT by Oldeconomybuyer
A couple of decades ago I got an unexpected raise when the company had to pay more for new hires that I would have to train; they had high turnover due to low salaries, and finally acted to stem the bleeding..
Somebody used the parable of the vineyard with me when I was griping about money thrown at tokens (to fend off lawsuits); I took their advice to heart and worked the 40 hour week outlined when I was hired. My boss can’t complain (the tokens work even less), and after the hours I’d worked in the past it feels like a part-time job.
While I understand the parable, policies like this tell harder-working employees that a company with money to burn doesn’t see fit to throw it their way.
Our human nature has not changed for thousands of years.
It may also be a case of having to pay a certain minimum level just to allow workers to live in the area; Silicon Valley has an issue like this with non-tech workers, and here in the NYC metro area even illegals won’t get out of bed for less than $10 per hour (and a minimum of 8 hours daily). If you pay legitimate minimum wage here, employees end up with so little they may as well gather aluminum cans for recycling.
These ‘raise the minimum wage’ advocates are funny. The Gravity CEO did not have any idea that the people at his company that worked hard over years and years to get their $70,000 salary would be upset by this?
It’s the same thing with the $15/hour minimum wage people. They are so short sighted.
What about the people that make $15 an hour right now? What about the Nurse that went to college for 4 years and makes $20? Do you think these people will be happy that instead of making 2 or 3 times minimum they are now making only 25% more? You will have to raise everyone’s salary and this is going to cause a great ripple in our economy.
Honestly, I don’t think we can afford it. America is struggling enough as it is. Most of us are making below living wage and just had our health insurance forcefully taken away. I make 60k per year and my healthcare is up to $400 per month; compare this to my $25/month car insurance (from Insurance Panda) or my $13/month renters insurance from Gotham. Both private enterprise (take note, Obama).
Would it not be far better to find a way to improve the skills of low wage workers so that they can actually earn the $15 instead of being given it?
“If I own a company and want to put a floor on wages, using my money, I’m a communist?”
Yes. It doesn’t matter if a person as a government official does it or if a person a private person does it. Setting a communal wage is communism.
See #9.
——What about the Nurse that went to college for 4 years and makes $20? -—
By saying that you indicate your misunderstanding. The whole point of the left wing enclaves raising the minimum wage is to induce general wage inflation
the previous attempts at the federal level have failed. the current attempt is to have solidly liberal cities make the raise.
there is an absolute necessity to raise wages across the board to allow workers to have money to pay for Obama care.
then there is the national debe. general wage inflation will yield price inflation that will devalue the $ that will reduce the debt in real $ terms.
See “Communist Manifesto”.
How is private money like government money in your mind?
P.S. You took that passage completely out of context. It was a parable of grace using a situation of unfair overpayments. You should learn the Bible before trying to us it as an argument for communism.
I know what you are trying to say, but "entitled" is the wrong word here.
Wow. Are you serious?
Yes, I am serious.
Are you seriously suggesting labor payments can be unfair because a parable, a fictitious story designed to make a point contrary to the story itself, in the Bible says so?
Ah, an atheist?
Are you really that stupid as to claim because I point out you have taken a Bible parable out of context that makes me an atheist??
You can try to call me an atheist but that just makes you an idiot.
The it's their prerogative to move on. Unless the policy would preclude them from moving up/getting pay increases that the pre-policy afforded, they really have no standing to gripe except for personal greed/jealousy that someone else is getting a good deal - times change and they are getting what they agreed to.
Reminds me of another story: My wife was an admin assistant (her role was more than glorified secretary with a neat title) and came home fuming because there was a spill and the janitor was out sick so they asked her to mop it up. She was pretty het-up when she got home so I asked her what the janitor made and she didn't know for sure but she was positive it was substantially less than she made. Then I asked if they reduced her wages for the time she was performing janitorial services and she said they didn't. I then noted that she was actually being overpaid for that period of time. She didn't like it but she caught the drift.
That theory was brought about from my time in the military when we would occasionally be tasked with policing up to pick up trash and cigarette butts and pull weeds from the cracks. was a senior NCO and some of my folks started to beef about how they were qualified for highly technical (computer networking/security) and it was a waste of their time. I pointed out that I was next to them doing the same job and doing it gladly because if they (or I) were to find a civilian job that paid the same wages/benefits for doing such a menial task, they would think they had hit the lottery.
If one has a crappy attitude and lets jealousy for another's good fortune ruin their day, then I wouldn't want them working for me anyway - sayonara/so-long/good luck to them. Life ain't always fair and sometimes when it takes a more fair turn for someone else, why should I carp about it if my own status isn't harmed except for my own sense of self-importance and the thought that I'm not getting what I "so richly deserve" - that's welfare bay thinking.
As I mentioned in another post, I simply reduced my hours to those set out when I was hired (to the point where it feels like a part-time job). I agree with the parable’s message; I hope my employer does as well when eight hours after entering I’m on my way home (regardless of where the workload stands). They can spend their money as they see fit; I can do the same with my time outside of those hours I’ve committed to them (per the initial employment agreement).
There is more to the minimum wage increases than inflation (which the government denies out one side of its mouth then acts to combat from the other). These increased wages will certainly increase contributions to Social Security, Medicare, and even income taxes - making more low-wage workers into “makers” instead of “takers” in terms of the government till.
Good point about those earning $15/hour already.
As far as improving the skills of low-wage workers, the fact is that between outsourcing and automation we simply have more skilled workers than we need, and someone with some skills that merits $15/hour would be rightly upset that some schlep who didn’t even finish high school will now be paid the same for much easier work.
Zimbabwe kept adding 0s to their banknotes to reflect inflation; we simply try to drive up wages by government mandate. The dollar of ten years ago is worth about $.50 today.
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