[Gulfcoast]

Originally Posted by Nevermore

I believe in a livable wage. People work hard, like the Villages gardeners. They need those extra dollars a lot more then you do.

The problem is that all wages and the prices for everything (goods/services/housing) will also go up as the minimum wage rises. It's all relative.

This isn't going to make things better for the low wage earners and it's going to be terrible for the retirees in Florida who are already living on a fixed income.

[jimhurtt@twc.com]

Yes but the only occupation where the employees are expected to "live off their tips" are waiters and waitresses. Every other business has to pay the federal minimum wage.

[vintageogauge]

Originally Posted by wdst1

Why don’t you try living on the current minimum wage, which in Florida is currently $8.56/ hr. only then you can talk about $3 donuts.

The minimum wage is not intended for those who are working a full time job and raising a family and have to live on these low wages. It is for entry positions for students, part timers, or for those that are not qualified for jobs paying more, in larger companies these jobs lead to better jobs and in some cases paid college tuition. It is sad to say but there are people out there that cannot be productive enough to earn $15.00/hour. These entry and part time jobs will be reduced to the point that only those who are ambitious, skillful, and hard working will get them, the others will be paid out of the extra taxes the entry level jobs produce while they sit at home having a not so good life. When these jobs are reduced the check out lines, drive through lines, motel check in times, all will be longer and longer.

[Gulfcoast]

Originally Posted by jimhurtt@twc.com

Yes but the only occupation where the employees are expected to "live off their tips" are waiters and waitresses. Every other business has to pay the federal minimum wage.

I used to wait tables and a good server can work fewer hours and make more money than a person making hourly minimum wage does. I've known college kids who make $300/$400 in tips alone on a single weekend night. A kid earning $9/hr flipping burgers 30 hours a week makes about $270/week.

Now when restaurants require things like tip pooling and tip sharing the deal is not so great for servers.

[Kenswing]

One unintentional consequence of raising the minimum wage in Seattle was that people cut their hours because the raise would disqualify them from certain social programs.

[petiteone]

We already pay 25 for a pizza. If everyone made a living wage we'd have lower taxes and fewer people on welfare.

[Stu from NYC]

Originally Posted by petiteone

We already pay 25 for a pizza. If everyone made a living wage we'd have lower taxes and fewer people on welfare.

Sorry but that is not exactly how the economy works.

[STLRAY]

I was born with no marketable skills. I found out as a teenager that the jobs available to me with no skills were unpleasant and paid very little. With two years in community college and two more in a affordable state college I could earn far more with much less effort. I guess I could have bitched and moaned about how unfair my lot in life was. Getting my butt in gear and getting trained to do something that paid well seems like a more effective strategy. I am sympathetic to the plight of people with no marketable skills. I used to be one of those people. I am not sure demanding that the government force my boss to pay me more than I am worth will be an effective strategy long term.

[jimjamuser]

Originally Posted by Bikeracer2009

In the 50's a carpenter could have a house, a wife that didn't work and put his kids through college before he retired. Wages started to stagnate as cola went up. By the 70's double income households became the norm as more women entered the workforce to maintain their lifestyle. The 80's brought on credit debt to keep things going. The wage divide has increased in non-union companies between the top earners and the bottom dwellers. The minimum wage increases are at least a decade apart but cola keeps chugging along so each year you technically make less money if you're paid a minimum wage.
My mother worked for minimum wages her whole life, raised two kids without a father and died without a funeral. Life was a struggle and homelessness was a yearly experience. Going days without eating, no heat in the winter or a/c in the summer.

I think the minimum wage should be a living wage. Take the average 1 bedroom apartment, the cost to live in it and the bare minimum it takes to survive in that state, divide that into an hourly pay and set that as the minimum wage for that state.

The last job I had the CEO made 8 million a year and got a 12 million dollar bonus. The workers paid more for their Healthcare. Seems fair.

Good post. Sorry about those bad life experiences. A higher minimum wage should help society. The current wealth disparity will be hard to resolve. Most people are not even aware of things like that. The US could have done so much better for its citizens.

[jimjamuser]

Originally Posted by Stu from NYC

Some jobs are worth $ 15 are not.

More and more unskilled jobs are being eliminated and people replaced by computers terminals.

Raising the minimum wages speeds up the process.

Less and less cashiers at grocery stores and fast food restaurants.

A.I. and robotics will eliminate jobs at a high rate regardless of WHAT the minimum wage is.

[Stu from NYC]

Originally Posted by jimjamuser

A.I. and robotics will eliminate jobs at a high rate regardless of WHAT the minimum wage is.

But a higher minimum wage will incentivize companies to speed up the process.

It is a shame that so many of us go to supermarkets and do self checkouts. Provide free labor to supermarkets while putting cashiers out of work.

[Aloha1]

Originally Posted by Stu from NYC

If servers made salary of $ 15 one should reevaluate tip levels. No idea to what at the moment but a lesser percentage would probably make sense.

And keep in mind, that tip goes directly to the employee and does nothing to help the employer absorb the wage mandate. And that's why prices will be going up.

[Yjacket74]

Originally Posted by jbrown132

Here is my question. It is clear that the cost of food in restaurants will go up. If a waiter is now making $15.00 an hour do I still tip 20%. Say you and your wife go to dinner an the tab is $50.00. At 20% the tip would be $7.50 making their wage $22.50 and that assumes you are there for the entire hour. This intuitively seems highly to me an I believe will hurt these establishments. Maybe I’m wrong.

Time to STOP this 'tipping' nonsense and pay people a decent wage. In Australia, if you try to tip, the worker says "I work for a living" and refuses the tip.

[npwalters]

Originally Posted by STLRAY

I was born with no marketable skills. I found out as a teenager that the jobs available to me with no skills were unpleasant and paid very little. With two years in community college and two more in a affordable state college I could earn far more with much less effort. I guess I could have bitched and moaned about how unfair my lot in life was. Getting my butt in gear and getting trained to do something that paid well seems like a more effective strategy. I am sympathetic to the plight of people with no marketable skills. I used to be one of those people. I am not sure demanding that the government force my boss to pay me more than I am worth will be an effective strategy long term.

Yep

[Smilingfeelsgood]

I believe the hourly rate for any hiree should be the result of an agreement between the employer and the hiree. If a hiree is willing to work for $7 per hour and the employer agrees, so be it. If the hiree wants $15 and the employer is only willing to pay $13, we all move on. No one should dictate what an employer has to pay. We all know what our financial needs are. Requiring a mandatory per hour rate distorts the per hour rate of others above this position, i.e if the dish washer is paid a mandatory $15 should the register clerk be paid more or the same even though there is more knowledge and skill required. I vote for the "mutual agreement" theory. How about you?