It's not possible to renegotiate or find better employment when "industry standards" keep wages artificially low. We have an unequal power relationship between businesses and their employees with businesses holding the lion's share of the power and keeping the lion's share of what the employees produce. The result of what you describe is that businesses get subsidized by government as workers turn to public assistance to survive. If we're going to keep doing that then it's perfectly appropriate to have the government regulate businesses in proportion to the amount that they're being subsidized through cheap labor.
The minimum wage is not "artificially low", it's low for a reason: these are jobs that require no special skills, than can be done by nearly anyone with little to no training.
Of course the employers have the "lion's share of the power" as it relates to their employees, they're the employers. As for"keeping the lion's share of what the employees produce", again, of course they do- they're the ones paying for the production in the first place. Employees are not partners, they're not owners, they're entitled to their agreed upon compensation and that's it. Period.
You have this ill-conceived notion that businesses are some kind of social program- they're not; businesses exist to make money, that is their sole function. A business pays you to do a job, that's it; your situation in life is neither their responsibility, nor their problem. As I said earlier, you are perfectly free to negotiate- be it individually or collectively, for higher wages, or to find other employment.
They are most certainly artificially low. Try running the fast food industry without workers. Then come back and try to tell me their labor isn't worth anything.
Try running the fast food industry without workers
Not a problem. We've had the ability to create nearly fully automatic fast food restaurantssince the mid '60s, but the concept was just too outlandish back then, but now that people are comfortable with automation, and had half a century's worth of technological advancement, take a look at the answer to $15 an hour. Self-checkout lanes are popping up more and more, iPads and touch screens are replacing servers at some full-service restaurants, and ordering/paying from mobile devices is becoming downright commonplace.
If I'm wrong, then there should be nothing at all to worry about. The Government can keep mandating higher and higher wages and everything will be just peachy. Time will determine who is right, and who is wrong.
Not only are you demonstrably wrong just like the last twenty-two times people predicted doom when the minimum wage was raised, but people are trying to prevent the government from doing what we need it to do.
It's not possible to renegotiate or find better employment when "industry standards" keep wages artificially low. We have an unequal power relationship between businesses and their employees with businesses holding the lion's share of the power and keeping the lion's share of what the employees produce. The result of what you describe is that businesses get subsidized by government as workers turn to public assistance to survive. If we're going to keep doing that then it's perfectly appropriate to have the government regulate businesses in proportion to the amount that they're being subsidized through cheap labor.
The minimum wage is not "artificially low", it's low for a reason: these are jobs that require no special skills, than can be done by nearly anyone with little to no training.
Of course the employers have the "lion's share of the power" as it relates to their employees, they're the employers. As for"keeping the lion's share of what the employees produce", again, of course they do- they're the ones paying for the production in the first place. Employees are not partners, they're not owners, they're entitled to their agreed upon compensation and that's it. Period.
You have this ill-conceived notion that businesses are some kind of social program- they're not; businesses exist to make money, that is their sole function. A business pays you to do a job, that's it; your situation in life is neither their responsibility, nor their problem. As I said earlier, you are perfectly free to negotiate- be it individually or collectively, for higher wages, or to find other employment.
They are most certainly artificially low. Try running the fast food industry without workers. Then come back and try to tell me their labor isn't worth anything.
Not a problem. We've had the ability to create nearly fully automatic fast food restaurants since the mid '60s, but the concept was just too outlandish back then, but now that people are comfortable with automation, and had half a century's worth of technological advancement, take a look at the answer to $15 an hour. Self-checkout lanes are popping up more and more, iPads and touch screens are replacing servers at some full-service restaurants, and ordering/paying from mobile devices is becoming downright commonplace.
Really? You think automation is just "fire and forget" and the owners can soak up the profits without worrying about employing anyone?
Good luck with that.
If I'm wrong, then there should be nothing at all to worry about. The Government can keep mandating higher and higher wages and everything will be just peachy. Time will determine who is right, and who is wrong.
Not only are you demonstrably wrong just like the last twenty-two times people predicted doom when the minimum wage was raised, but people are trying to prevent the government from doing what we need it to do.