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Anyway, props to OP for actually bringing a new thought to the debate. I bet we've had dozens of min. wage threads, and I don't think I've seen this angle before.
There's a Seattle area guy named Nick Hanauer who is a billionaire and big proponent of a high minimum wage. It's ironic since he made a lot of his fortune through Amazon, which pays not much more than min. wage at their warehouses, but that's a tangent. His point seems to be that low wages can sometimes be not due to lack of value that workers bring to the table, but because of lack of 'bargaining power' as he puts it.
I think there is actually probably something to this, but if so, raising the minimum wage is not the right solution. It's a 'one size fits all' solution. If we raise the minimum wage to, say $15/hr, those who are currently worth $15 but only making 12 will be helped. But those who are making $12 and are worth only $12 to their employers, will lose their jobs.
A much better solution would be to come up with ways to improve the negotiating power of low wage workers.
I've discussed this issue in some ways with basic income. Oddly enough if we gave a basic income where the minimum wage was removed there are some jobs whose pay rate would have to change, and go upward. People work at chicken processing plants for minimum wage, because they have no choice. they need the income to survive. If a basic income appeared, some jobs like security guard....would have their pay rate lower, while the chicken processing plant would have to rise. And people would have more negotiating power.
Those of you who are against minimum wages; how about getting rid of minimum wage and start doing like in Sweden, Norway, Finland, Denmark, Switzerland and Austria where the minimum wages are usually calculated sector by sector in ‘Collective Bargaining Agreements’ and paid accordingly. Most workers' in those nations are member of the union, while in America only low percentages are.
Thanks to the unions, we now have weekend, 40 hour workweek with overtime pay, higher salaries, and other workers' benefits!
One of the touchstones for modern American conservatives, was opposition, to the human rights labor movement, which out of that movement came the idea of workers rights, and labor laws that modern conservatives claim to support, but they hate the labor movement that produced those worker's rights.
conservative ideology is very hierarchal and truly the idea of workers having rights and the ability to change their workplace over the objections of the owners of that workplace with help from the government is The first massive human rights endeavor that conservatives vehemently opposed at that time.
Even though conservatives insist that they support the labor laws to protect workers, they never discuss those laws positively, they never discuss strenghting or expanding those laws to meet the needs of workers, they never ask how well those laws are protecting Amerucan workers.
Basically, conservative support for labor laws are paper thin to non-existent.
They'll never support an expansion of any of those laws.
In fact, conservatives have created a whole narrative around how labor unions ruined this industry or that city, etc.
conservatives idolize owners or as they call them job creators.
Sad part is conservatives have nothing to say as the top 1% hoovers up all the income gains in the economy
They have nothing to say as fewer and fewe Americans see wage growth over multiple decades now.
These kinds of problems are outside of what conservatives will think about.
One of the touchstones for modern American conservatives, was opposition, to the human rights labor movement, which out of that movement came the idea of workers rights, and labor laws that modern conservatives claim to support, but they hate the labor movement that produced those worker's rights.
conservative ideology is very hierarchal and truly the idea of workers having rights and the ability to change their workplace over the objections of the owners of that workplace with help from the government is The first massive human rights endeavor that conservatives vehemently opposed at that time.
Even though conservatives insist that they support the labor laws to protect workers, they never discuss those laws positively, they never discuss strenghting or expanding those laws to meet the needs of workers, they never ask how well those laws are protecting Amerucan workers.
Basically, conservative support for labor laws are paper thin to non-existent.
They'll never support an expansion of any of those laws.
In fact, conservatives have created a whole narrative around how labor unions ruined this industry or that city, etc.
conservatives idolize owners or as they call them job creators.
Sad part is conservatives have nothing to say as the top 1% hoovers up all the income gains in the economy
They have nothing to say as fewer and fewe Americans see wage growth over multiple decades now.
These kinds of problems are outside of what conservatives will think about.
Liberals had complete control of the federal government from 2008 to 2010. They had the white house, US house, and Senate. What happened in those two years? I can't recall any major new labor law initiatives. They did raise the federal minimum wage from 6.55 to 7.25, WOW. Income inequality marched on, median household income declined. Washington DC & environs became the wealth center of the nation, overtaking the previous #1 wealth center of Silicon Valley.
That's because most minimum wage workers bring minimum (or often less-than-minimum) skills to the table. If you bring an above minimum skillset, there's room to negotiate.
??? Not if you're in a local labor market with a large surplus of labor, e.g. no need to negotiate in a college town with a never ending surplus of qualified labor.
Liberals had complete control of the federal government from 2008 to 2010. They had the white house, US house, and Senate. What happened in those two years? I can't recall any major new labor law initiatives. They did raise the federal minimum wage from 6.55 to 7.25, WOW. Income inequality marched on, median household income declined. Washington DC & environs became the wealth center of the nation, overtaking the previous #1 wealth center of Silicon Valley.
Liberal 'complete control' was not so complete as to be able to overcome the potential for conservative filibusters - they did not have the votes to get through both houses everything they wanted and therefore didn't push it.
Liberals in Oregon now have just about the level of complete control they need to get everything passed, as they have just done with gun control.
Even so, they can't always count on every liberal vote because not all have safe seats and thus some are vulnerable to being defeated by special interests.
??? Not if you're in a local labor market with a large surplus of labor, e.g. no need to negotiate in a college town with a never ending surplus of qualified labor.
That's true only when discussing purely unskilled labor. A pair of hands or strong back. By rising above the pool of unskilled labor, you have the opportunity to offer more and thus make the case to be compensated at a higher rate. If all that's sought by all employers is unskilled labor, you're looking at the wrong market. Or you might do something to set yourself apart - other than a nose ring or facial tattoos, that is - which can be perceived by potential employers as added value.
Liberal 'complete control' was not so complete as to be able to overcome the potential for conservative filibusters - they did not have the votes to get through both houses everything they wanted and therefore didn't push it.
Liberals in Oregon now have just about the level of complete control they need to get everything passed, as they have just done with gun control.
Even so, they can't always count on every liberal vote because not all have safe seats and thus some are vulnerable to being defeated by special interests.
They did get Obamacare through both House and Senate in March 2010 with zero GOP votes. But evidently they did not care to replicate that effort with regard to either labor law or income inequality.
When your only skill is pushing a button on a cash register that looks like a hamburger then you take what you can get. Prove your worth and move up the ladder.
I worked minimum wage jobs in high school and college. I had no marketable skills except what I could lift and I could drive a tractor in a straight line. Driving a tractor for 14 hours a day doesn't get you any overtime either. Farm workers were exempt from from overtime laws.
You can thank Cesar Chavez for most of that. Farm workers were reclassified when he got the immigrant farm workers unionized.
Liberal 'complete control' was not so complete as to be able to overcome the potential for conservative filibusters - they did not have the votes to get through both houses everything they wanted and therefore didn't push it.
Liberals in Oregon now have just about the level of complete control they need to get everything passed, as they have just done with gun control.
Even so, they can't always count on every liberal vote because not all have safe seats and thus some are vulnerable to being defeated by special interests.
The states of OR and MD have a lot in common other than the fact DC is tucked under MD's armpit. they are both liberal cesspools and the presence of the federal government helps MD out considerably. Imagine what OR would be like if positions changed. The western towns of Seattle, Portland, Denver, Boise and others are going the route of liberal Austin, TX.
Md does have a new R governor.
The bad thing for the nation is the former liberal governor, Martin O'Malley, is supposedly going to make a bid for POTUS this election cycle.
Those of you who are against minimum wages; how about getting rid of minimum wage and start doing like in Sweden, Norway, Finland, Denmark, Switzerland and Austria where the minimum wages are usually calculated sector by sector in ‘Collective Bargaining Agreements’ and paid accordingly. Most workers' in those nations are member of the union, while in America only low percentages are.
Thanks to the unions, we now have weekend, 40 hour workweek with overtime pay, higher salaries, and other workers' benefits!
Imagine a US town that has one factory in it. They use Unions there. US way of doing this collective bargaining ends with factory being moved to the next town over.
Have you ever heard of a town called Detroit ?
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