Do you "fair wage" people really want to see "fair pay"? (unemployment, minimum wage)
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pay: noun - something paid for a purpose and especially as a salary or wage. Synonyms: emolument, hire, packet [British], wage, paycheck, pay envelope, payment, salary, stipend.
wage: noun - a payment usually of money for labor or services usually according to contract and on an hourly, daily, or piecework basis — often used in plural. Synonyms: emolument, hire, packet [British], pay, paycheck, pay envelope, payment, salary, stipend.
pay: noun - something paid for a purpose and especially as a salary or wage. Synonyms: emolument, hire, packet [British], wage, paycheck, pay envelope, payment, salary, stipend.
wage: noun - a payment usually of money for labor or services usually according to contract and on an hourly, daily, or piecework basis — often used in plural. Synonyms: emolument, hire, packet [British], pay, paycheck, pay envelope, payment, salary, stipend.
A fair wage is what the Employee and Employer agree upon.
That sounds nice... doesn't it?
The employer will "offer" the amount that the market insists on.
The employee will "accept" what the market can bear.
The concept of "fair" has NOTHING to do with that.
The reasons for the dismal wage levels that so many have today are based in simple
economic realities of supply vs demand: Too many people (as a raw number) competing.
The auction idea doesn't work because it would return us to the Victorian era and the era of paid slavery. There is not end to how much avaricious employers will exploit workers. What would stop employers from colluding and fixing wages? Just because someone might be desperate enough to work for $1 / hr doesn't mean that a civilized society needs to allow it.
Government would be forced to pick up the tab for everything to allow people to survive. Rich people would have to be taxed to 90 % in order to support all the poor people.
The concept of a living wage is that if someone works very hard for 40 hours a week they should be able to support themselves and their family in something other than abject poverty.
The big question is this....who defines "fair wage"? Every single individual in America has a different idea of what THEIR "fair wage" should be.
It comes down to what the value of the labor is.
If employee A is 25% more productive than employee B, can you tell us with a straight face that the value of A's labor is 20 cents more per hour than B's labor?
A fair wage is what the Employee and Employer agree upon.
Only if the agreement is made without distress.
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