Minimum Wage Legislation

I have no idea how a family of four could survive at the poverty level. My family severely struggled at almost double that for a while. Ironically people making far less lived much better than i did, they got all kinds of free stuff, and didn't have to work half as much.

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Originally Posted by HPL

Is Husky a publicly owned company? If so, the way for employees to participate in the profits of the company is to buy stock (although it is almost always a mistake to have your entire portfolio consist of stock in the company for which one works).
Yes, and I agree (was simply using it as an example, and was not involved in the strike)


How does minimum wage keep wages down? I really don't understand that.
This is just my opinion but if company x knows the least they have to pay an employee is (just say 7$) and the company has no regard for their employees and decide to pay them 7$ an hour no more, then they have no reason to give their employees raises to keep up with the cost of living thus keeping wages lower than average. I understand that people have the chance to change their place of employment but that is if other jobs are available and they have the means to do so.

If minimum wage is there to ensure a "living wage" for a family, what do you think that the minimum wage should be? (hint, the federal poverty level for a family of 4 is $23,050.00 and if you work a standard 40hr week,52 wks a year that's 2080hrs/yr).

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I don't expect the minimum wage to be $11.08 according to those figures but I do think a raise in the minimum wage can be helpful to those that need it. I have faith that not all people are along for a free ride and if a raise in the minimum wage can help those that need it we should help. I have been very fortunate to hold a very good job but started out with hardly nothing and worked my way up, maybe my opinions are misguided but I have been there.

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Originally Posted by Schmersal

I don't expect the minimum wage to be $11.08 according to those figures but I do think a raise in the minimum wage can be helpful to those that need it. I have faith that not all people are along for a free ride and if a raise in the minimum wage can help those that need it we should help. I have been very fortunate to hold a very good job but started out with hardly nothing and worked my way up, maybe my opinions are misguided but I have been there.

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That's the American way... More should figure out how to do it rather than wait for a handout.

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Originally Posted by Marvin S

I have not seen a post on these forums stating anything against private sector unions - but the majority are all adamantly opposed to the public sector unions & the government controlling prevailing wage regardless of level.


I was not turning this into a union / non union discussion, I was simply giving some background and if it came off that way it wasn't meant to. But since you brought this up, I believe the anti union folks when they say "we only want to limit the collective bargaining rights of the public employees union and not the private sector unions" about as much as I believe the anti gun folks when they say we only want ban assault weapons, and high capacity magazines, I don't.

You obviously flunked Econ 101 -

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Marvin you said earlier in this post that you wanted to have a discussion, so I offered up my opinion and my thoughts on the minimum wage and wanted to have an open minded discussion listening to the opinions of you and other posters and got this " you obviously flunked Econ 101 ". Now I might not have an economics degree or political science degree but I do know when I have a discussion or debate with someone and they are open minded and are offering their opinions in a civil manner the last thing you should do is answer with condescending remarks about their education or intelligence. That is the reason why Washington is the way it is, because nobody wants to listen to to anybody else's opinions they would rather force their beliefs on to those with differing beliefs. I have reread all of my posts on this topic and can find none that were degrading,condescending or mean spirited. You must have flunked Manhood 101 especially the part about the golden rule!

condescending regards

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Originally Posted by huntinman

That's the American way... More should figure out how to do it rather than wait for a handout.

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Agree 100 percent!

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Originally Posted by Schmersal

I don't expect the minimum wage to be $11.08 according to those figures but I do think a raise in the minimum wage can be helpful to those that need it. I have faith that not all people are along for a free ride and if a raise in the minimum wage can help those that need it we should help. I have been very fortunate to hold a very good job but started out with hardly nothing and worked my way up, maybe my opinions are misguided but I have been there.

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Why not? If that just gets one to break the "poverty level", and if the minimum wage is there to provide a "living" wage for families, then shouldn't it be at least what would put one slightly above the poverty level, so let's say $12.00 or maybe $15.00/hr. That seems nice to me. Of course if we raise minimum wages, that will make those who have been working their way up feel like they should get a raise also (if you don't believe that, you haven't been paying attention). I think that wage inflation will lead to price inflation making the whole process potentially counter productive. (however, I don't even remember how I did in econ 101 (if I even took it)).

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Originally Posted by Schmersal

In this area there are a large number of adults with families working retail, fast food, and go-fer type jobs, that's why kids looking for their entry level jobs are having a hard time finding one. Lets face it minimum wage was created by government for big business to keep costs down and profits up, none of this is classic dem propaganda it's just the way it is. Lets take wal-mart for instance they make millions-billions in profit every year, they only let their management positions work full-time hours while their normal sales floor people are only allowed to work up to a certain number of hours a pay period so they are considered part time (no benefits such as insurance, or retirement ) would it break them to raise the pay scale? No, will it cost them profits yes, but they may end up with a less disgruntled work force willing to do that little extra to make a difference. Husky refinery in this area just went through a strike with in the last year or two, yes the employees make a great living with great benefits but Husky would not budge and the union settled for basically cost of living increases and went back to work, last quarter 2 billion in profits. It was said earlier in this post that an hourly increase would be passed down to the consumer and that is correct but when is it not? If a business is charging you 5$ for a product they will raise their prices to cover the higher cost of manufacturing or sales which ever side it is on, it's not costing them anything but maybe a few sales. Sending jobs over seas was going to lower prices for consumers but guess what, all it did was lower the cost of production and increase big business profits along with making this country weaker, and more dependent on other countries. A government for big business can't be also for the victims of big business it won't work. When unions were being started and labor was asking for fairness and didn't get it and went on strike then government troops were sent in to quell the "uprising" who sent the troops in, the government. Why? To protect big business because they were getting kick backs from big business lobbyists. I am for hard working people making a good living, businesses making a good profit, and people having the opportunity to better themselves. I don't believe that it's the unions fault that people become lazy and satisfied living off the government but I do believe that an increase in the minimum wage can keep some people off of government assistance.

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Isn't raising the minimum wage a way to make Unions happy because their wage ratio is tied to the minimum wage? Thus, it increases all the Union members wages automatically.

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Originally Posted by Schmersal

Marvin you said earlier in this post that you wanted to have a discussion, so I offered up my opinion and my thoughts on the minimum wage and wanted to have an open minded discussion listening to the opinions of you and other posters and got this " you obviously flunked Econ 101 ". Now I might not have an economics degree or political science degree but I do know when I have a discussion or debate with someone and they are open minded and are offering their opinions in a civil manner the last thing you should do is answer with condescending remarks about their education or intelligence. That is the reason why Washington is the way it is, because nobody wants to listen to to anybody else's opinions they would rather force their beliefs on to those with differing beliefs. I have reread all of my posts on this topic and can find none that were degrading,condescending or mean spirited. You must have flunked Manhood 101 especially the part about the golden rule!

condescending regards

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I consider myself somewhat perceptive but like HPL, you are a hard guy to come up with anything other than a fence straddle in your posts :). If you're that sensitive about your level of education you should improve on that, it's your choice as it was mine. We do have some posters on this forum who are must reads because of their thoughtful, generally not opinionated posts. I do not know what level of education they reached but they are able to express themselves. The list of those folks here is long. You obviously know little about what makes an economy tick. Join CATO, for a $100 sustaining membership you will gain a lot of knowledge. Read some of the books on the "what are you reading" post, as RK says "some serious horsepower here". Resorting to name calling generally means you believe you lost, but this is a forum to exchange ideas, if an idea is bad you better be able to defend it, which you don't appear to be prepared to do. JD believes I am condescending also, to date JD has contributed zilch to the forum other than calling UB names, which is not a contribution :o. I do believe folks should do the forum readers the courtesy of using spellcheck & proofreading their posts, apparently that's asking a lot. I do recognize the difference between sloppy & stupid :).

Minimum wage jobs are for folks with minimum wage skills - it is not about feeding a family of four on mini wage - while I recognize that some may get into that situation through no fault of their own, it seems to be the norm today. Pop a few kids & figure folks should feel sorry for you & give you things.

I worked my way through college with the aid of the GI Bill (in those days $110 per month for 36 months max) because I wanted to be in charge of my own destiny. I owned no car cause I couldn't afford one. I had no family to support, that's what you did in my day before you assumed that obligation. I had to miss a year contract mining to catch up on my bills. Is there anything wrong with that? Is there anything wrong with expecting others to do the same? I appreciate everything I have including the numerous opportunities to better myself, I would like to see that continue into the future after I'm gone. It will not be so if the government is running the show :confused:.

Dose any one know for a fact that raising minimum wage precedes inflation? With our country so far in debt is it possible that we are just going to start printing money and leaking it into the economy? This may have nothing to do with helping the poor.