Min Wage Hikes

[KeithE]

[ET]

[Sandy]

I find it interesting that conservatives are opposed to increasing the minimum wage because of what it will do to small business, while some of their business icons pay salaries above the minimum wage because they've discovered, by their own admission, they get more out of their employees. Interesting, too, is the fact that these are all hugely profitable businesses, and they are competitive in their respective fields in terms of prices for goods and services.

[KeithE]

[Sandy]

[Mrs Haruo]

You said it, Sandy. I don't appreciate one bit the squalor imposed on my neighborhood by absentee landlords and banks who foreclose on properties who don't give a rat's patootie that property they own and don't do a thing to improve becomes an eyesore and a health hazard when it gets broken into and used as a drug house and or a private dump site when there are honest hard working people forced to live in their cars if they are lucky enough to own one. I ride up I-5 through one of the more vibrant, beautiful and prosperous cities in the nation and at the same time see hundreds of tents erected in the wooded areas and under overpasses along the freeway by folks who have run out of options. There is something horribly wrong with this picture.

[KeithE]

.

We will see if Seattle's economy falls apart and whether or not their unemployment increases. Give it 3 months so as to remove the political reactionaries. Keep us informed Mrs. and Mr. Haruo.

Update: I guess it will not be implemented very quickly - 3 years before "many large businesses" must comply and 7 years before "all businesses" must comply according to:


I suspect much debate and behind the scenes wrangling over this.

[Haruo]

Since I am currently making ten-something an hour (except when I work a paid holiday, which more than doubles my rate per hour), this new ordinance will undoubtedly have an effect on my income as it comes into full effect. It will probably have a net positive effect for me, but how it will play out countywide I have no idea. I say countywide because although it only affects employers in the city of Seattle, it will affect employees and job-seekers throughout the county (and, to a smaller extent, beyond).

[ET]

Not directed at you Haruo...just a general statement - an industrious teenager or other worker could offer to work for $10 or $12/hr for cash after this takes effect and make a nice bit of money for the next Xbox or iPhone.

[Mrs Haruo]

Most teenagers that I know of that are able to find a job are helping to support their families. Buying school clothes their parents cant afford, and saving for college.

[ET]

The majority of teenage min wage workers are suburban middle class per U.S. Labor Dept stats.

[Dave Roberts]

ET, out of curiosity, what percentage of minimum wage workers are adults?

[ET]

Dave, I posted that info in another thread on this topic. I'll see if I can find it and link or repost.

[Ed Pettibone]

[Sandy]

I don't think Seattle's economy will fall apart because of a $15 minimum wage. An established business with a strong customer base isn't going to move away over a few thousand dollars in expenses. More money will enter the economy, and that will boost business, not kill it. In Canada, where the provinces set their own minimum wage, the highest levels of economic prosperity, and business profit, is in the provinces with the highest minimum wages.

[KeithE]

[Sandy]

[KeithE]

[ET]

[ET]

[ET]

[Haruo]

Overall, minimum wage workers may only constitute 2.9% of workers, but my guess is that in Seattle the percentage that earn less than $15/hr. is quite a bit higher than that.

BTW, if a particular worker works three part-time jobs, two of them for the minimum, 15 hours a week each, and one for 15¢ above the minimum, 12 hours a week, how many minimum-wage workers does she count as for the purposes of these statistics? And how do we tell which of the rates she should get the two hours of overtime on? (Assuming a slightly fairer world.)

[Sandy]

[KeithE]

[ET]