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I’d like to see the wage raised annually too but the fact is Congress and the state’s have not done that and the last minimum wage raise was 11 years ago.
No one today should be forced to work three jobs their entire lives just to survive, especially when the owners of their employers are making billions every year.
I assume you forgot 2014-2017 Ct raised the minimum wage each year, far in excess of wage changes overall. ($10.10/$8.25) = 22.4% increase.
The state should have gone to a straight 2.5% increase annually long ago. $11-$15 in 3 years was a bad mistake, though, and I know many companies cutting hours - which I agree with.
Now had the state gone up $ .50/year for 8 straight years when they decided to go above $11, I think the impact on jobs would be far less than essentially going up 36% in just over 3 years is.
I laugh at your billionaires comments. Neither of us will ever meet one.
Ct MW jobs such as McDs are owned by franchisees. Subways the same franchisee owned. If you get enough subs made, the "owner" has likely waited on you. His kids if he owns a McDs- likely manage it for him.
I am not fond of the franchise model since, as it exists in 2021, it enriches the corp itself like Subway, while making conditions for franchisees horrific, but in no way, shape, or form, are franchise owners these billionaires you seem to see everywhere.
I am also not jealous of wealth. I respect business owners, as they usually scrape by for many years before seeing even modest success. 9 in 10 fail. That means bankruptcy court, and since small businesses seldom get much credit, personal assets were likely pledged as collateral, so those are also lost.
Last edited by BobNJ1960; 08-08-2021 at 01:32 PM..
Jay, your falling for the media sound bytes of extremism. Not every business owner is a billionaire. In fact there are only around 2700 billionaires, worldwide! Chances are you will go your whole life never seeing one.
Most are regular people, not millionaires even. Started my business over 30 years ago....made less than my workers. But to give people 10% raises every year is not sustainable. Guess what neither is the inflation it's causing....
The inflation we are all dealing with, is really another tax we are all paying that no one talks about. Buying power is less and less.
Minimum wage was never designed to allow you to raise a family. Life isn't always fair. Things can be hard. Sacrifices can be made.
Poor people fight to come to the US to make a better life. They work minimum wage jobs with the disadvantage of ESL and succeed. Some wildly. They didn't get here, by believing they were victims, but by knowing they were winners in a slow race.
So why all the focus on minium wage!? Why not focus on how to break out of minimum wage thru hard work. Why does the government keep trying to tell them they deserve better, but still settle for minimum wage!?
I’m falling for nothing but the facts. The fact is that the minimum wage has not been raised in more than a decade. It’s a fact that Congress and the state’s haven’t tied the rate to inflation so after extended periods of time without an increase, steep jumps are required to bring workers up to a reasonable wage and keep them there until the next time Congress is forced to address it again.
No one is advocating “10% raises every year”. Whose the one falling for “media sound bytes of extremism” by even suggesting that? The minimum wage in 1968 was $1.60. Today that should be $12.49 instead the federal minimum wage is just $7.25. Big difference, don’t you think?
The history and purpose of the minimum wage is long and complicated. It’s true purpose has different meanings to different people. As a business owner of course you would dismiss the purpose of the wage is to raise a family. It does not serve your agenda if it does. If not to raise a family, then what is it for? To feed a single person? To feed a couple? What? FDR, the President when the federal minimum wage was established back in 1938, certainly felt so.
Yeah, I am sure there were times that you made less than your employees but how long was that for? Is it going to be as long as you own the company? Are you not getting other benefits from your lower wages like increased value of you company? Are you getting perks you conveniently ignore like a company car, cell one, food, travel, etc. that most workers don’t get?
I’ve know or worked for a number of small companies and I know the games they play. The owners cry poverty but somehow retire with multiple homes, bloated bank accounts and a host of perks that I can only dream of. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t begrudge any business owner of the fruits of their hard work but it can’t be at the expense of the people they employ of the taxpayers who pay for social programs like food stamps and Obamacare. Apparently though a lot of big businesses don’t agree. Jay
The state should have gone to a straight 2.5% increase annually long ago. $11-$15 in 3 years was a bad mistake, though, and I know many companies cutting hours - which I agree with.
Now had the state gone up $ .50/year for 8 straight years when they decided to go above $11, I think the impact on jobs would be far less than essentially going up 36% in just over 3 years is.
I laugh at your billionaires comments. Neither of us will ever meet one.
Ct MW jobs such as McDs are owned by franchisees. Subways the same franchisee owned. If you get enough subs made, the "owner" has likely waited on you. His kids if he owns a McDs- likely manage it for him.
I am not fond of the franchise model since, as it exists in 2021, it enriches the corp itself like Subway, while making conditions for franchisees horrific, but in no way, shape, or form, are franchise owners these billionaires you seem to see everywhere.
I am also not jealous of wealth. I respect business owners, as they usually scrape by for many years before seeing even modest success. 9 in 10 fail. That means bankruptcy court, and since small businesses seldom get much credit, personal assets were likely pledged as collateral, so those are also lost.
As you’ve pointed out and bemoaned many times here before, Connecticut is a progressive and pro labor state so it’s not surprising it’s minimum wage has increased with inflation. But what about other 49 states? Many have not kept up. And even though Connecticut has raised its minimum wage, it’s still lower than the $12.49 the 1968 rate set at the time. Jay
As you’ve pointed out and bemoaned many times here before, Connecticut is a progressive and pro labor state so it’s not surprising it’s minimum wage has increased with inflation. But what about other 49 states? Many have not kept up. And even though Connecticut has raised its minimum wage, it’s still lower than the $12.49 the 1968 rate set at the time. Jay
Many states have raised minimum wages, and almost all states do offer lower COL, btw.
However, focusing on the minimum wage , mainly youthful, not head of house by any means wage earner is not productive. Their jobs tend to be the easiest to automate, so when we raise the wage 36% as Ct is doing in 3 years, we see hours cut, and eventually jobs cut. That does not harm the college bound kids using such jobs properly as "get feet wet at work first jobs", it does harm the middle aged, never got skills folks who lack marketable skills. If I were them, i'd work at a D.C. Hard work, but decent pay.
I recall doing minimum wage jobs at 17, and knowing I and most colleagues were focused on our true futures-knowing we had to complete our education first. I am fortunate to have either stayed friends with many of them, and simply bumped into more, and most of us did quite well. That is what mattered, not our wage at that brief part of time during our youth.
Yeah, I am sure there were times that you made less than your employees but how long was that for? Is it going to be as long as you own the company? Are you not getting other benefits from your lower wages like increased value of you company? Are you getting perks you conveniently ignore like a company car, cell one, food, travel, etc. that most workers don’t get?
I’ve know or worked for a number of small companies and I know the games they play. The owners cry poverty but somehow retire with multiple homes, bloated bank accounts and a host of perks that I can only dream of. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t begrudge any business owner of the fruits of their hard work but it can’t be at the expense of the people they employ of the taxpayers who pay for social programs like food stamps and Obamacare. Apparently though a lot of big businesses don’t agree. Jay
You forget, 90% of businesses fail. Employees still get paid. Owners end up bankrupt.
I applaud business owners willing to risk, and applaud rewards. They should have solid investment income like multiple homes or big bank accounts, years later, after surviving as a 10% er (90% fail) and taking the risk.
Employees risk NOTHING. We are paid for our services at a rate we agreed to work for.
If an employee has no more skill than a 17 year old at their first job, why in the world are they entitled to more than entry level wages?
PS: FDR's MW was worth the same as $5 an hour now. Whoop De Doo.
The state’s budget is in very good shape with a large surplus, the Rainy Day Fund reaching its maximum and the state getting ready to make a $1.2 billion advance payment into its pension funds. You can’t get much better really. The question is who should get credit for this “miracle”?
So let’s be honest and objective here, though Dan Malloy was deeply disliked, he was left a real mess by Jodi Rell. To balance her budget, Governor Rell borrowed $1 billion to balance her budget. Furthermore the state’s pension funds were in very poor shape with projections of massive shortfalls in the future. Malloy certainly hard to make a lot of difficult decisions during his eight years as Governor but by the end of his second term, the budget picture was looking brighter by the day.
Enter Ned Lamont, with the budget improving, he faced and resisted massive pressure from the Democrats and even Republicans to increase spending and/or raise taxes. He held the line on spending and debt (remember the Republicans wanted to borrow massive amounts of money to fund transportation). Hopefully that will continue though the state will face a struggle to fully fund transportation under the new federal infrastructure program without new revenue sources. Hopefully that can be overcome somehow (raising the gas tax?).
It seems there is a lot owed to both Governors. Do you agree? Jay
I’m falling for nothing but the facts. The fact is that the minimum wage has not been raised in more than a decade. It’s a fact that Congress and the state’s haven’t tied the rate to inflation so after extended periods of time without an increase, steep jumps are required to bring workers up to a reasonable wage and keep them there until the next time Congress is forced to address it again.
No one is advocating “10% raises every year”. Whose the one falling for “media sound bytes of extremism” by even suggesting that? The minimum wage in 1968 was $1.60. Today that should be $12.49 instead the federal minimum wage is just $7.25. Big difference, don’t you think?
The history and purpose of the minimum wage is long and complicated. It’s true purpose has different meanings to different people. As a business owner of course you would dismiss the purpose of the wage is to raise a family. It does not serve your agenda if it does. If not to raise a family, then what is it for? To feed a single person? To feed a couple? What? FDR, the President when the federal minimum wage was established back in 1938, certainly felt so.
Yeah, I am sure there were times that you made less than your employees but how long was that for? Is it going to be as long as you own the company? Are you not getting other benefits from your lower wages like increased value of you company? Are you getting perks you conveniently ignore like a company car, cell one, food, travel, etc. that most workers don’t get?
I’ve know or worked for a number of small companies and I know the games they play. The owners cry poverty but somehow retire with multiple homes, bloated bank accounts and a host of perks that I can only dream of. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t begrudge any business owner of the fruits of their hard work but it can’t be at the expense of the people they employ of the taxpayers who pay for social programs like food stamps and Obamacare. Apparently though a lot of big businesses don’t agree. Jay
Jay, as you like to say.... This is about CT.
Malloy raised Min wages to 10.10 on Jan, 1, 2017.
Sept 1 19 went to $12.
Every 11 months it's going up a dollar till it hits 2015.
Keep in mind employers pay UI, workman's comp, and Federal taxes of 7.65% on top of this. It's roughly 10%.
Once again your telling us stories of some business owners who succeeded, most fail.
When I started, no company car, lived in a cheap apt. No cable, cause I just slept there. Always working. When I needed my knee to be scoped I sucked it up because I had to be there. Married later in life, kids too. Bought used cars until 2019. Live well now. Delayed gratification.
Jay, as you like to say.... This is about CT.
Malloy raised Min wages to 10.10 on Jan, 1, 2017.
Sept 1 19 went to $12.
Every 11 months it's going up a dollar till it hits 2015.
Keep in mind employers pay UI, workman's comp, and Federal taxes of 7.65% on top of this. It's roughly 10%.
Once again your telling us stories of some business owners who succeeded, most fail.
When I started, no company car, lived in a cheap apt. No cable, cause I just slept there. Always working. When I needed my knee to be scoped I sucked it up because I had to be there. Married later in life, kids too. Bought used cars until 2019. Live well now. Delayed gratification.
and you are a typical business person, Stepfordct, and I am delighted you were amongst the 10% that thrived. You earned it.
Malloy started with an $8.25 state minimum wage, so inside of 3 terms, we experienced a $6.75 spike or 82% increase.
If corps that could failed to automate and find other substitutes to reduce the labor quantity they could deep six, shame on them.
That is what anyone sane does when things become more expensive far faster than their salaries or earnings grow. They reduce consumption. Labor is not exempt from that fact.
Jay, as you like to say.... This is about CT.
Malloy raised Min wages to 10.10 on Jan, 1, 2017.
Sept 1 19 went to $12.
Every 11 months it's going up a dollar till it hits 2015.
Keep in mind employers pay UI, workman's comp, and Federal taxes of 7.65% on top of this. It's roughly 10%.
Once again your telling us stories of some business owners who succeeded, most fail.
When I started, no company car, lived in a cheap apt. No cable, cause I just slept there. Always working. When I needed my knee to be scoped I sucked it up because I had to be there. Married later in life, kids too. Bought used cars until 2019. Live well now. Delayed gratification.
So your workers should be subjected to an entire life of near poverty and struggle so you can have the finer things in life? Come on now. You try living on less than $24,000 a year and tell me how easy it is.
And don’t try to make us feel sorry for you having to pay UI, workman’s comp and federal taxes. I’ll bet you bill out each worker at a 2.5 to 3.0 multiplier. That’s what my employer does and they turn in a tidy profit every year even after paying overhead and benefits. It’s hardly violin worthy. Jay
So your workers should be subjected to an entire life of near poverty and struggle so you can have the finer things in life? Come on now. You try living on less than $24,000 a year and tell me how easy it is.
Come on, Jay, few do. Studies indicate MW employees most often work in middle class households.
In addition, we do not know his business, nor his wage levels. So I will not attack any businessman, especially if I lack knowledge of those things, or I do not understand his industry or its business model.
Not every job was made to pay 1950s style one income family salaries, raise 5 kids on it, no problem.
One of my first jobs was mowing the lawns of neighbors. Should my pay to do so have been at least the state's median household wage to do so? At 17, at Stop & Shop, I retrieved carts and bagged groceries. Same question-should it pay enough to raise a family, 1 income style, with 5 kids?
We need people working such jobs to strive for more and build true, marketable skills. Tens of millions across our nation do so every year.
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The minimum wage in 1968 was $1.60. Today that should be $12.49 instead the federal minimum wage is just $7.25. Big difference, don’t you think?
