[hygtfrdes]

What about the suppliers? If the price of Big Macs double and your paycheck increases by the same amount, how have you gained anything? Not to mention the fact that everyone who has anything saved just lost half their money.

I don't know labor prices and labor cost proportions with suppliers and distributors but I doubt it would cause a doubling of prices. 40% increase is a complete guess but I think it's appropriate. It would be a 20% increase if the wage law affected the retail level only


By the way, I've never made $15/hr in my life.

[Pharmadryg]

Actually, I can first-hand estimate the effect because we had an increase from $5.15/hr to $7.25/hr while I was a manager in fast food. That's a 40% increase in labor costs. Since labor costs typically account for 20% of cost of business at the retail level, prices could be expected to increase by 8%.

We increased prices following the law piece-meal and some products saw price increases (some significant, like french fries) while others (like our 'value line') remained static. I don't have all the price changes for me to figure out definitively what the result was but in general, I'd say prices increased 10-15%. In general, it did seem like everything went up a dime on the dollar.

So yeah that means 40% increase in prices from a doubling of minimum wage would be on the high-end. A 25-37% increase in prices is my educated guess.

Of course, this is only considering the increase in costs associated with employees earning minimum wage. The increase we actually saw probably didn't inflate the wages of those making more than minimum wage much (actually, I was still making $9/hour before and after the minimum wage increase). Something as dramatic as doubling the minimum wage to $15/hr would have an inflationary effect on all wage-earners so the price of a burger will be higher than my 25-37% increase estimate. But $15 burgers at McDonalds is not likely.

Have you ever considered that it's a little bit absurd that you can solve economics/business problems like this correctly and yet you still spend your time in jobs that don't use those skills?

[Freeptube]

Personally, I'd rather not pay 15 bucks for a hamburger.

Are you saying an hour of minimum wage labor goes into a hamburger? That's an interesting estimate.

[JennyStewarta]

Why don't you try moving somewhere with really low unemployment?

I bet you could find work in some place like North Dakota. Hey, it might be cold, but it's Sparky lives in Winnipeg, which is even colder.

edit: And if you *really* want to join the military you could join the National Guard there. Would pay extra money and frankly, getting deployed would probably be an increase over your current salary.

I think he might struggle to find employment in finance in North Dakota.

[risyGreeple]

This is stupid in so many ways but let's start by pointing out that taxes pay these salaries. They are public sector workers.

Oh and thank god minimum wage is not $15/hour or college students like myself would find it basically impossible to get a job.

Taxes are deducted from their salaries. Wa-a-a-a-a-a-ay too great of % of their salaries, according to people like you. I disagree. Pay a teacher $60,000/year. 50% or more goes to taxes and back to the government which can then employ more teachers. Take out the word 'teachers' and change it to 'garbage collectors' or 'city clerks'. Make sure they all receive excellent wages and benifits.

In Manitoba the minimum wage is currently around $10/hr, a good start. The wage didn't jump overnight from $1/hr: IIRC the government announced that, over a 4 year period, the minimum wage would go up .50 twice per year.

I'm sure there are areas in the US where there is no minimum wage. I know some American companies that open in Canada are shocked that we don't treat students like you looking for work like sh*t, and have real labour laws that are enforced.

As for the $15 burger - a lot of places have them. Not Rotten Ronnies or Wendys Fat and Sleazy, but steak houses often have burgers around that level. I remember when I said I'd never pay more than $15 for a nice steak... oh, well. Good thing I'm part of a good Union.

TMMs comment about lab techs making $15/hr where he's from, I was able to find 2009 wage numbers from Manitoba. At the time the minimum wage was around $8.50/hour - with Lab Techs starting $23.55, with increases to 26.55 and 31.92 DOE and qualifications.

Finally, largely because of fracking, ND is booming (literally). If you truly are qualified, I'm sure you could find a job in finance in North Dakota.

[bonyrek]

Of course you'll be thankful you are part of a union. The entire purpose of a union is to benefit the union members at the expense of the workers who would otherwise have jobs if not for the union.

The entire purpose of a union is to ensure our members receive fair compensation for our work. I'm also an independent producer. I use unionized performers in my productions. (A few years ago, I was almost actually in a strike/lockout positon with myself, so unless your in a union or own a unionized company, please don't try to bullsh*t me.)

[Cabinanteerip]

It's really easy to ensure you receive whatever compensation you consider 'fair' - don't accept a job whose compensation is 'unfair'.

What if you live in a state with so called 'right to work' legislation. After you accept a job, you can be told your hours, compensation, benifits will be going down to save the company/government money. This may be after years of working for the same employer. Even if you are unionized, you could be legaly locked out. Individuals within the union who deside to work for less, and others, could be hired to replace you without recourse in many 'union busting' states. Or the company might close shop and relocate to a state with more 'favourable' labour laws. Or Mexico, or China.

I have no interest in being a part of the 'race to the bottom' that some of you advocate as sound economic policy.

[saruxanset]

What if you live in a state with so called 'right to work' legislation. After you accept a job, you can be told your hours, compensation, benifits will be going down to save the company/government money.

Tell them you won't continue working for the new hours/compensation/benefits. If they keep going then get a new job. See how simple this is?

[Angelinaaiiiiiiiii]

Are there always new comparible jobs available for every persons skillset?

Guess what? The entire purpose of unions is to make sure comparable jobs aren't available, so they can sustain higher wages for the people in the union.

[InvertPrete]

Unions exist to prevent undue exploitation of workers by employers

No. They exist to raise the wage of members of the union, full stop, by limiting the company's ability to hire new employees.

[zilsolley3]

Unions exist to prevent undue exploitation of workers by employers

No. They exist to raise the wage of members of the union, full stop, by limiting the company's ability to hire new employees. This is very funny. Do you write much in the way of comedy ?

[sisuarmalmicy]

At the expense of common wisdom.

[Beatris]

Wisdom about common things.

[pissmanvd]

Sorry but you're being silly. Go back and read up on how and why unions came into being, and the horrible exploitations of workers by business owners. As I said I've long criticized unions for a host of different things, but the idea that they only exist for such a narrow reason is just daft.

It doesn't matter what nice stories you tell yourself. Demand curves slope down and supply curves slope up.