Washington minimum wage increased to $11 an hour Jan. 1st (Seattle: renters, employment)

[CrazyDonkey]

An argument can be made that a lower minimum wage can pull down wages above it, while a higher minimum wage can push them up. In the first case, wages for workers with skills in supply will fall or stagnate, since they lack leverage to demand a higher wage; in the second case, workers with skills in demand will rise, since they have leverage to demand a higher wage.

That isn't to say that there aren't winners, stay evens, and losers. The winners in this case are those at the minimum who gain a raise above the rate of inflation. The stay evens, if you will, are those above the minimum who have the knowledge/skills/experience to demand higher pay sufficient to stay even with inflation. The losers are those above the minimum who lack the knowledge/skills/experience to demand higher pay sufficient to keep up with inflation.

Ultimately, it comes down to numbers. As long as the losers in the above scenario have the numbers to turn the electorate in their favor, the minimum wage is likely to languish; however, if the winners in the above gain the numbers (through workers falling to and augmenting the bottom, but also through immigration at the bottom) over time to turn the electorate in their favor, the minimum wage is likely to rise.

As it is now, the first is true locally in many metropolises and many blue states; and the second is still true nationally and in most red states. Now, if we were to believe the arguments of opponents, red states should economically be beating the pants off blue states, except the exact opposite is true.

This red-blue divergence is all the more striking because red states still receive much more in federal spending relative to the federal taxes their residents pay. In other words, blue states are generally outperforming red states even while heavily subsidizing them.

Why are red states no longer consistently gaining ground? An important reason is that modern knowledge economies increase the rewards for education, research and development and urban hubs that promote the exchange of ideas and development of talent. This has made local conditions more important even in this age of globalization. And the places where these effects have been most successfully promoted are overwhelmingly blue.

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/07/31/op...y-is-blue.html

[sapphire1]

Originally Posted by DogLovinGal

Like the PP said, your thinking is highly flawed. I have worked as a server before and your tips depend on what section you're working, what meal is being served/time of day, and your service- which sometimes aren't your abilities/personality, but the kitchen serving time, bar staff, etc. Your tips rely on others doing their jobs well. Plus, when people leave, you rely on your bussers to turn your tables quickly. Most restaurants if not all, wait staff do not keep all their tips for themselves. You are obliged to give a % to the kitchen, % to the bar, % to the bussers, etc.

So, providing everything runs smoothly and everyone enjoys their meals in a timely manner, you might make over your wage for a couple hours out of your shift.

Please don't comment or make assumptions about things you know little about based on a flawed math equation you conjured up yourself.

Luckily I don't have to work as server. But you people have a problem with people making $11 per hour, but it's okay for an uneducated person to get much more on tips.

I won't be leaving tips anymore.

[sapphire1]

Originally Posted by PS90

Well, in a big-picture economic standpoint, it's debatable whether this is good or bad, I guess. It's obviously a good thing for lower-class, unskilled workers. Bloomberg's scope of their article is extremely narrow - it will obviously help Wal-Mart employees. (The Forbes article wouldn't open on my computer, for some reason)

But I know for sure that average, middle-class slobs like me are going to suffer, at least in the short term. My employer has already said that they have no plans to increase salaries for anyone who is making more than minimum wage, and yet we are already seeing price increases for cost-of-goods, in order to make-up for higher labor costs.

How is this a good thing for the middle class, again?

It will also help the waitstaff at restaurants, they'll be making $20+ hourly.

[Hemlock140]

As a frequent Seattle area restaurant customer, I can tell you that more and more restaurants are no longer allowing tips, but are instead charging a 20% service fee. Supposedly "part" of it will go to the employees, service and otherwise, the rest to offset the higher minimum wage.


Seattle Restaurant Bans Tipping for Service Charge

https://www.seattlemet.com/articles/...y-with-tipping

[PS90]

Originally Posted by Hemlock140

As a frequent Seattle area restaurant customer, I can tell you that more and more restaurants are no longer allowing tips, but are instead charging a 20% service fee. Supposedly "part" of it will go to the employees, service and otherwise, the rest to offset the higher minimum wage.


Seattle Restaurant Bans Tipping for Service Charge

https://www.seattlemet.com/articles/...y-with-tipping

Yeah, I've heard about this. Basically, it's a non-optional, inflated tip that may or may not be funneled to the wait staff. It's just more of the "hidden fee" trend, like those stupid hotel "resort fees" that you have to pay in Vegas or Orlando.

Even if it was considered a "tip" - since when are tips now 20%? I remember when 15% percent was considered good etiquette, then it became 18%. Now that's not even good enough? Ridiculous.

Sadly, I have to agree with Sapphire1 - although I typically consider myself a "good tipper", servers will be getting a lot less "optional" dollars from me from now on. Unless l drive over to Post Falls, where Idaho servers still make less than minimum wage plus tips...

[CrazyDonkey]

The 20% "gratuity" covers the tip plus the cost of the higher wage - it is in lieu of raising prices (by 5%?). I don't think any restaurant doing this has banned tipping - they've just made it optional. For instance, if you normally tip 20%, then you might add an optional tip of 5%.

[PS90]

Originally Posted by CrazyDonkey

The 20% "gratuity" covers the tip plus the cost of the higher wage - it is in lieu of raising prices (by 5%?). I don't think any restaurant doing this has banned tipping - they've just made it optional. For instance, if you normally tip 20%, then you might add an optional tip of 5%.

I guess I don't understand what you're saying. It sounds to me that you are suggesting that we increase the tip to 25%, in addition to a recent $1.00+/hour wage increase, for an employee that rarely has any formal education.

But I'm assuming I read your post wrong, because that sounds ludicrous to me.

[CrazyDonkey]

Originally Posted by PS90

I guess I don't understand what you're saying. It sounds to me that you are suggesting that we increase the tip to 25%, in addition to a recent $1.00+/hour wage increase, for an employee that rarely has any formal education.

But I'm assuming I read your post wrong, because that sounds ludicrous to me.

No. The 20% gratuity covers the tip (15%?) and the higher minimum wage (5%?), in lieu of raising prices. If you normally tip 20%, instead of 15%, just paying the gratuity would mean paying a lower tip than normal.

[PS90]

Originally Posted by CrazyDonkey

No. The 20% gratuity covers the tip (15%?) and the higher minimum wage (5%?), in lieu of raising prices. If you normally tip 20%, instead of 15%, just paying the gratuity would mean paying a lower tip than normal.

Oh, okay. I understand. Thanks. Still means that prices have increase dramatically, if restaurant prices have gone up 20%, but banned tips - that means that prices have still increased 3-5% - which is way more than inflation.

I thought the liberals said that cost of goods and services wouldn't increase with this minimum wage increase, and that it would be good for everyone?

[CrazyDonkey]

Originally Posted by PS90

Oh, okay. I understand. Thanks. Still means that prices have increase dramatically, if restaurant prices have gone up 20%, but banned tips - that means that prices have still increased 3-5% - which is way more than inflation.

I thought the liberals said that cost of goods and services wouldn't increase with this minimum wage increase, and that it would be good for everyone?

Which "liberals" are you referring to? Most would say it is good for the worker receiving the higher wage; whether it is good, bad, or indifferent for others depends on many different factors, it seems to me. It is not reducible to a simple either/or logic-loop.

Now, some restaurants in Seattle, such as Ivar's Salmon House/Acres of Clams 1) raised their minimum wages directly to $15/hr, 2) added a gratuity (21% at Ivar's), and 3) made tipping optional:

We took the average tip given by our customers over the past three years (17%) and included it in the price of our food. Seattle’s minimum wage law prevents Ivar’s from counting tips as part of compensation (because the law considers us a “large” employer), so it forced all Seattle restaurants to re-evaluate the way we do business. Ivar’s goals were:

1. to comply with the new law;
2. keep wages and benefits for our employees the same or better than the past;
3. maintain high quality food and service; and,
4. not significantly change the cost for our customers

Ivar's initially removed the "tip" line from their credit receipts, but added it back due to "many customer requests".

https://www.ivars.com/press-room/item/403-minimum-wage

Ivar's estimates that overall customer costs have increased by 4% at their full-service restaurants and 3% at their seafood bars. Note that Ivar's was already paying above-industry wages and benefits:

Ivar’s has paid very few employees solely a minimum wage, and we offer all employees (including those who work part time) the following:

1. health insurance, dental, chiropractic, optical,
2. paid sick time off,
3. short term and long term disability insurance,
4. 401(k) retirement, where we add 50 cents to every dollar employees contribute,
5. free meals

Prior to April 1, our employees who were paid minimum wage were our servers and bartenders. They earned an average of $18 to $19 an hour in tips on top of the $9.47 minimum wage.

The paradox is that the only employees at Ivar's full-service restaurants who were earning the minimum wage were those least in need of a wage increase (servers and bartenders who had "earned an average of $18 to $19 an hour in tips on top of the $9.47 minimum wage", or about $28/hr).

Ivar's, Costco, and Dick's are examples that good value, higher wages, and full benefits are not contradictions. Compared to companies like Walmart, they are able to add to the economy without having to leech off of the tax-payer in the form of additional needed social benefits.