I have a slight problem with the $15/hr.

[Bigb23]

In my life, I have never earned that amount. That's with technical training in GM based Unigraphics, Cadkey, and AutoCAD. And also welding, auto body, and G code machining and code rewriting.


I have NEVER earned that amount in 43 + years.

To have a 15 year old earn that amount, just to press a button on a fryer for the results is nuts.

I would like to hear from other Professionals.

[Bigb23]

Maybe if you're stuck with less than 30 hours- fine, but make it work please.

[Pam]

Minimum wage needs to be raised. It hasn't even kept up with inflation. It's not just 15 year olds stuck in these jobs. Obviously, jobs like you had with more training should pay even more.
American workers have been getting ripped off for a long time.

http://feelthebern.org/bernie-sanders-on-minimum-wage/

Placed in a historical context, the current federal minimum wage represents a serious decrease of purchasing power with respect to increases in cost of living over the past 40 years. Had minimum wage risen with the inflation and productivity increases since 1968, the minimum wage today would be closer to $26 per hour.

[Zacha341]

$15 an hour without respect for the job performed, or skill required? Ahh, political nirvana promise where wages ever increase and hand-outs abound!

Not to be a kill-joy but for example, these fast food restaurants will not go along with this long term. They'll automate and reduce staff as quickly as they can.

Also, the 'first job' low wage job option for teens will be further eliminated.

[Johnnny5]

If U.S businesses weren't so busy cheating American workers at every turn we would not even be having this discussion. They're offshoring every manufacturing job they can to Mexico and China, contracting call centers, technical and customer service jobs to India and drawing in HB1 visas and millions of illegal foreign laborers to cover every job that can't be done overseas. All of these actions together greatly dilute the labor market and reduce wages for working class Americans. We're getting screwed!


BigB23, I'm sorry that you have not been able to find higher paying jobs in your field, but you shouldn't let that be your reasoning to fight against higher wages for other workers. You're both being screwed over having to settle for a smaller piece of the pie while those at the top devour the rest. The paid off traitors in Washington and their billionaire handlers are the ones that deserve your anger, not your fellow Americans that are fighting for a living wage.

[Jimaz]

^ Couldn't agree more.

But I heard some good news on WWJ this morning. Someone who tracks outsourcing said the manufacturing outsourcing phenomenon is reversing. It's being driven by higher wages in China. He said we're currently at about zero change [[as many jobs outsourced as insourced.)

[oladub]

A $15/hour wage would benefit workers in the short run. It would push some families into higher income tax brackets and reduce the need and cost of social services. Welfare departments could be shrunk. Taxes to pay for welfare could also be shrunk although some goods and services would become more expensive. There would be one less reason to hire illegal aliens if they had to be paid as much as US workers. Those are generally good things.

In the longer run, automation would replace a lot of $15/hour workers. If tariffs were not also imposed, a lot of work would also leave the country for other countries with lower wages.

[SDCC]

California did pass the holy grail of wages [[to some I guess) – it will be phased in slowly, finally achieving the “incredible wage” of 15.00 per hour in 2022.
8.00 an hour is 16,400.00 a year – the poverty threshold for two people is 15,900.00. Nearly 50 million Americans live in poverty. The poverty levels are highest with minorities, 26% of blacks live in poverty, 23% of Hispanics live in poverty, while around 10% of whites are in the poverty range. Minimum wage workers are unable to live without government relief – the American taxpayer subsidizes their wages.
While the age of the employee is irrelevant, typically they are not 15 years old? These are working families, usually single parents.
Even 15.00 an hour is just barely getting along – the gap between those just getting along and the well-off has never been greater.
Myself coming from San Diego, the minimum hourly rate to survive is 17.00 per hour.
Is the question, since you have struggled and never made a fair wage - dispute the fact you are considered skilled labor - nobody should?
This use to be a union town – filled with middle class. Didn't the teamsters [[Jimmy Hoffa) fight for 7.00 a hour something like 40 years ago?

[Meddle]

At $15 hour, people might be able to pay their $200/month cell phone bills as well as their $100 month satellite/cable bills and still be able to buy new $100 jeans every other month.

Or, they could just not do that stuff.

Like the OP, I'm not sure I ever had a wage over $15/hr, yet I've always had two [[older) cars, clothes to wear, food to eat and have been able to buy houses and pay utilities with enough left over to splurge on a few things now and then and travel some.

Right now, I'm living on a small pension [[far, far, far less than $15/hr) and savings accumulated from my last job while I wait for some other programs and packages to kick in.

It's not always as much about what you make as it is how you spend it.

[gazhekwe]

The low paid skilled workers like Big B and Meddle would qualify for the Minimum Wage. They would be among those getting raises. Perhaps they could improve their lifestyle a bit, indulge in things they could not. Their increased income would enable them to contribute a bit more to the economy and create more jobs. I agree with those who say the American workers have been cheated for decades. Right-to-work, forced mediation, no fault employment contracts, all designed to protect the companies who want to get the most out of their workers for the least amount of money and the least risk of liability.

[JBMcB]

Minimum wage needs to be raised.

If you want to help the poor, get rid of welfare programs, get rid of the minimum wage, get rid of social security, and just give people enough money to live on. Forcing price controls on labor is the ass-backwards way of doing this. Combine this "negative income tax" with a flat tax and things work remarkably well:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mincome

[lpg]

Hmmm..If Social Security was stopped what fund would Congress loot and throw IOU's back into ??

[Honky Tonk]

I'm going to submit an interesting article to this discussion.

http://www.npr.org/2011/03/17/134619...anies-billions

[lpg]

I'm going to submit an interesting article to this discussion.

http://www.npr.org/2011/03/17/134619...anies-billions

Interesting read. But even if they paid all tax owed, Washington would just waste it.

[SDCC]

Apple – AAPL – has a Staggering Market Capitalization of $601.8 Billion, Google – Alphabet Class A – GOOGL – has a Market Capitalization of $266 Billion, and don’t forget Google – Alphabet Class C - GOOG – it has a Market Capitalization of $260 Billion, Goggle has a combined Market Capitalization of over ½ Trillion dollars, Facebook has a Market Capitalization of $326 Billion, Microsoft has a Market Capitalization of $431 Billion, Exxon Mobile Corp $342 Billion. These five companies alone have a combined Market Capitalization $2.223 Trillion dollars, [[I rounded it off).
While I deviated from the list in the article, my list, is a somewhat interchangeable list, of companies that are often mentioned when the topic is – which of the above companies will hit 1 Trillion dollars first?

[Bigb23]

^ Couldn't agree more.

But I heard some good news on WWJ this morning. Someone who tracks outsourcing said the manufacturing outsourcing phenomenon is reversing. It's being driven by higher wages in China. He said we're currently at about zero change [[as many jobs outsourced as insourced.)

`



My job was mostly with Tool and Die, and we saw the worst of the 90's meltdown. Thanks offshore.

20.000 shops closed. In that era.

[lpg]

`



My job was mostly with Tool and Die, and we saw the worst of the 90's meltdown. Thanks offshore.

20.000 shops closed. In that era.

Worked at a alley shop making machine tools till the early 80's. Went to many of the small shops on the East side. Saw the beginning of the decline. Sad.