it'll be interesting to see what happens. I'm betting it'll turn out just fine - everyone claiming the sky will fall and everyone will lose their jobs have no data to back those assertions. Hopefully it can set an example for the rest of the nation.
Seattle raises minimum wage to $15/hr
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I just came out of a meeting where the CFO and VP of the company were in attendance. Everyone in attendance ended up just bullshitting for a few minutes before our CEO came in. I brought this up and asked "if Western were to be forced to raise the minimum wage up by almost $6/hr...what would happen?" The CFO said simply, "we would have to raise the prices on all of our products to continue our profit and/or replace a lot of our labor with robots."
I'm having a very hard time believing that my company, who is growing almost 20% every month being forced to raise prices, is the only company that would do this. Simple economics. When your overhead for your company is forced to rise, how do you work around it...simple...raise your prices.Originally posted by Wh33lhopThis is r3v. Check your vaginal sand at the door.Comment
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it's bullshit though.
look at a company like walmart. what a fucking depressing ass place to shop. all the employees make minimum wage and are lucky to work more than 30 hours a week. half of them are on some form of government assistance - the company itself provides guidelines on shopping effectively with food stamps. yet the company rakes in billions and billions of dollars every year. you're telling me they can't afford to pay their employees better? all the money goes to the top and that won't change until we all figure that out.
did you know that only 85 people have as much wealth as 3 billion people? There are people starving who don't have clean water and we still pretend the 1% are our friends. they aren't.Comment
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Financially, it may not even really make a dent for major franchises like Wal-Mart or McDonalds. For smaller companies, however, it's going to destroy them and empower big businesses even more creating more restrictive services and creating that word middle-class and lower Americans hate "monopoly".
Also, it isn't the matter of how much they raised it...that's only half of the issue. The issue is how much they raised it in so little time.Originally posted by Wh33lhopThis is r3v. Check your vaginal sand at the door.Comment
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it's bullshit though.
look at a company like walmart. what a fucking depressing ass place to shop. all the employees make minimum wage and are lucky to work more than 30 hours a week. half of them are on some form of government assistance - the company itself provides guidelines on shopping effectively with food stamps. yet the company rakes in billions and billions of dollars every year. you're telling me they can't afford to pay their employees better? all the money goes to the top and that won't change until we all figure that out.
did you know that only 85 people have as much wealth as 3 billion people? There are people starving who don't have clean water and we still pretend the 1% are our friends. they aren't."We praise or find fault, depending on which of the two provides more opportunity for our powers of judgement to shine."Comment
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Oh an let's not forget how Conservative's insistence the the minimum wage be kept low actually INCREASES the number of people that have to rely on government subsidies such as welfare and food stamps:
52% of families of fast food workers receive assistance from a public program like Medicaid, food stamps, the Earned Income Tax Credit and Temporary Assistance for Needy Families. That's compared to 25% of families in the workforce as a whole.
The report estimated that this public aid carries a $7 billion price tag for taxpayers each year
Assuming fast-food workers are good proxy for minimum-wage workers, this actually explains a lot. If it sounds impossible to get by on less than $1,000 a month, that's because it probably is, and most minimum-wage workers don't. They earn a wage that isn't sufficient to support them, and various government assistance programs make up the difference.
Public assistance isn't just for those out of work, down on their luck, or in a short-term bind. It's for those who are gainfully employed but earning such a low wage they can't sustain themselves. Which is to say: The reason fast-food and other low-wage employers can get away with paying so little is because taxpayers subsidize the slack. The report estimates McDonald's (ticker: MCD ) subsidy alone is worth $1.2 billion a year, which equates to more than a fifth of its 2012 profits.
That's $7 Billion per year that the US government is shelling out to subsidize low wages at fast food restaraunts alone!. Estimates put the amount of subsidies going to Wal-Mart employees at an equal $7 Billion. That's $14 Billion worth taxpayer dollars used as an excuse to keep wages low, in just this one small fraction of the economy.
So, would you rather that companies pay their workers a higher wage, or would you rather that they pay a lower wage and you get make up the difference with your tax dollars?Comment
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No this is bad, say goodbye to low income jobs that can be replaced by kiosks.
Food and local shopping prices are already high here in comparison to other states, do people really think raising the Minimum wage means that all food and local item prices will magically stay the same and everyone can afford everything? No, raising the minimum wage just means everything will be more expensive.
Yay $10 burgers!
Read the studies that I posted, look through the data, do some actual investigating. You'll see that prices have very low correlation to wages. Note the data from San Francisco that shows a 25% wage increase resulted in a 2-3% price increase. If you translate that straight over, an increase of 39% from $7.25 to $10.10 would result in a 3.9% increase in the price of your $1 cheeseburger, or $0.04 which means it will cost you $1.04.. Holy shitComment
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Oh an let's not forget how Conservative's insistence the the minimum wage be kept low actually INCREASES the number of people that have to rely on government subsidies such as welfare and food stamps:
That's $7 Billion per year that the US government is shelling out to subsidize low wages at fast food restaraunts alone!. Estimates put the amount of subsidies going to Wal-Mart employees at an equal $7 Billion. That's $14 Billion worth taxpayer dollars used as an excuse to keep wages low, in just this one small fraction of the economy.
So, would you rather that companies pay their workers a higher wage, or would you rather that they pay a lower wage and you get make up the difference with your tax dollars?"We praise or find fault, depending on which of the two provides more opportunity for our powers of judgement to shine."Comment
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Financially, it may not even really make a dent for major franchises like Wal-Mart or McDonalds. For smaller companies, however, it's going to destroy them and empower big businesses even more creating more restrictive services and creating that word middle-class and lower Americans hate "monopoly".
Also, it isn't the matter of how much they raised it...that's only half of the issue. The issue is how much they raised it in so little time.
businesses that have less or more than 500 employees
businesses that provide healthcare
Fewer than 1 percent of the businesses in Seattle have more than 500 workers, according to a study for the city by the University of Washington. Those businesses have a total of about 30,000 employees, representing about a third of those earning under $15 an hour in Seattle.
The mayor said 21 of 24 members of his minimum wage task force, which included representatives of business, labor and community groups, voted in favor of the plan.
Local news, sports, business, politics, entertainment, travel, restaurants and opinion for Seattle and the Pacific Northwest.
Local news, sports, business, politics, entertainment, travel, restaurants and opinion for Seattle and the Pacific Northwest.
It's not happening all at once so everyone in this thread who can't be bothered to read should shut the fuck up until they do so.Comment
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Correction, his lack of empathy is Capitalism in a nutshell...and what is more American than that?
My father told me something when I was in my late teens and entering the workforce that stuck with me until this very day. He said son, "It doesn't matter what job you have or what you do, as long as you strive to do a better job than you did the previous day and do so with a humble attitude and pride in your work. Make your superiors understand you are always pushing for the next rung and you will go places you never realized were possible." That is paraphrased, but the gist of the conversation. Over the last 15 years his words never failed and simply by working hard and pushing for the next level I've had incredible success, more so than my formal education should allow.
People who do not share the same drive should not reap the rewards, this whole trophy for everyone mentality is causing greater ripples in our society and economy than most people realize.
Just because someone is poor doesn't mean they made poor decisions. It also doesn't mean you lack ambition. Of all the working poor people I know, not a single one works any less hard than I do.
The playing field favors those with connections and luck, not talent or drive. Hard work is a variable that has only limited influence on success. It's a prerequisite, sure, but not even close to being key to wealth.
And if you think that hard work is a key component of American capitalism then I'm not surprised you drive an E30 instead of a Bentley.2011 1M Alpine white/black
1996 Civic white/black
1988 M3 lachs/blackComment
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^ I'm gonna have to disagree with this. If you do not put hard work and drive into your job will you have a good chance of promotions and raises? FUCK NO! Alot of jobs are typically experience-based now with a smaller emphases on education (depending on your field obviously). Typically, people who are in the minimum wage level are in the younger age groups. If you work hard and blah blah blah, you improve your chances of promotions of titles and responsibilities. This will only improve your resume and offer valuable real world experience.
So I will disagree with you and say hard work does pay off eventually.Originally posted by Wh33lhopThis is r3v. Check your vaginal sand at the door.Comment
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Just because someone is poor doesn't mean they made poor decisions. It also doesn't mean you lack ambition. Of all the working poor people I know, not a single one works any less hard than I do.
The playing field favors those with connections and luck, not talent or drive. Hard work is a variable that has only limited influence on success. It's a prerequisite, sure, but not even close to being key to wealth.
And if you think that hard work is a key component of American capitalism then I'm not surprised you drive an E30 instead of a Bentley.
BTW, what I drive is no indication as to my success, never said I was rich now did I? I said I'm successful but I don't waste money on things that aren't necessary. It's called putting your money to work for you instead of being foolish with it. Another thing the stupid and lazy don't understand.
And let me add real quick, not everyone can be in the middle-upper class as far as income. It takes all levels for the world to go around, it's ok that some people will never make more than $12/hr, if that is the limit of their drive and intelligence, then that's ok! Trying to raise everyone up that lack the key factors without the work put in to earn will only grow our current entitlement mentality. Will people work harder or make better decisions now that they are making more, no because they have no pride in their work or the effort put in. As usual we're trying to treat the symptom of a problem instead of addressing the cause.
As for this little gem, you may not care because you have already relegated yourself to mediocrity. Those that have a built in drive, will appreciate the wisdom.Comment
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^ I'm gonna have to disagree with this. If you do not put hard work and drive into your job will you have a good chance of promotions and raises? FUCK NO! Alot of jobs are typically experience-based now with a smaller emphases on education (depending on your field obviously). Typically, people who are in the minimum wage level are in the younger age groups. If you work hard and blah blah blah, you improve your chances of promotions of titles and responsibilities. This will only improve your resume and offer valuable real world experience.
So I will disagree with you and say hard work does pay off eventually."We praise or find fault, depending on which of the two provides more opportunity for our powers of judgement to shine."Comment
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Hahaha, bolded the excuse of the stupid and lazy. "I'm all out of luck..." Fuck that, make your own destiny and yes hard work and good decisions are the key to success, unless your long term plan for retirement is to win the lottery. Does it take luck to make connections? No, it takes drive to go out and grow them. Does it take luck to set yourself up for that promotion over the other guy standing next to you? No, you out perform the stupid and lazy and you'll be promoted over the guy that simply has "bad luck". Of all the points you usually make on this forum, this is by far the most idiotic and makes me think you're one of these people we speak of. Never would have thought that of you, shame.
BTW, what I drive is no indication as to my success, never said I was rich now did I? I said I'm successful but I don't waste money on things that aren't necessary. It's called putting your money to work for you instead of being foolish with it. Another thing the stupid and lazy don't understand.
Of everything you fail to understand about the world, this surprises me the least.2011 1M Alpine white/black
1996 Civic white/black
1988 M3 lachs/blackComment
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You still fail at understanding the difference between wealth and success. And yes, they are smarter and at one point worked harder than all your buddies that make minimum wage that are oh so driven individuals. But I guess we should just take it away from the top 500 and give to everyone else, that's the American spirit.Comment
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