I had no idea Scott Walker was so popular

[Dinner]

Of course it is, which also explains why Berzerker hates them.

[Berzerker]

You don't think that when a politicians tries to openly destroy them, that they should be able to mobilize their members to defend their members rights? I thought defending workers rights was their 'job'?

Of course it is, which also explains why Berzerker hates them.

What about the workers paying higher taxes when the public unions are done protecting themselves?

[Uncle Sparky]

Good. Then we will have more high payed workers- who can pay taxes. All workers should be paid fair wages, not the 'race to the bottom' sh*t going on in the US. Minimum wage should be at least $15/hr.

Governments should be responsible for services, and government employees should maintain those services. The shi* going on with municipalities in the US (and to a lesser extent in Canada) refusing to tax has resulted in an increadible infrastructure deficite in both countries. You USers have gone so far as to have huge urban waistlands in most of you cities. Its time the middle class and working class realize that all the Repugs trickle down economics does for them is allow them to be shat upon. Make the F*cking rich pay their fair share. Stop calling corporations people and treat workers like humans.

[Berzerker]

what happens if your labor aint worth $15 an hour?

[Jon Miller]

Then you should be retrained?

JM

[kentonio]

Go Sparky!

[Ben Kenobi]

Minimum wage should be at least $15/hr.

Personally, I'd rather not pay 15 bucks for a hamburger.

[molly bloom]

If it turns out this thread is about some dreary politician rather than the legendary singer I'm going to be disappointed. The thought of the reclusive genius singer getting elected is brilliant.

My thoughts precisely. Imagine the great range of campaign songs...

[regexcellent]

Good. Then we will have more high payed workers- who can pay taxes. All workers should be paid fair wages, not the 'race to the bottom' sh*t going on in the US. Minimum wage should be at least $15/hr.

Governments should be responsible for services, and government employees should maintain those services. The shi* going on with municipalities in the US (and to a lesser extent in Canada) refusing to tax has resulted in an increadible infrastructure deficite in both countries. You USers have gone so far as to have huge urban waistlands in most of you cities. Its time the middle class and working class realize that all the Repugs trickle down economics does for them is allow them to be shat upon. Make the F*cking rich pay their fair share. Stop calling corporations people and treat workers like humans.

This is stupid in so many ways but let's start by pointing out that taxes pay these salaries. They are public sector workers.

Oh and thank god minimum wage is not $15/hour or college students like myself would find it basically impossible to get a job.

[Hauldren Collider]

Then you should be retrained?

JM

No, then you should get paid what you're worth. "Sorry, you're not skilled enough to be allowed to have a job, even though there are jobs you could perform, just not for 15/hour"

[Al B. Sure!]

Labor costs account for 15-20% of costs in a fast food restaurant. A doubling of the minimum wage (currently $7.25/hr) would necessitate at the minimum a 20% spike in prices at the retail level just to cover labor costs, but since the wage law would also increase costs at the distribution and production levels, food costs would also rise.

Wouldn't be any $15 burgers at McDonalds but a 40% increase in prices is likely. Expect that $3.50 Big Mac to cost $5.00

[Ben Kenobi]

Labor costs account for 15-20% of costs in a fast food restaurant. A doubling of the minimum wage (currently $7.25/hr) would necessitate at the minimum a 20% spike in prices at the retail level just to cover labor costs, but since the wage law would also increase costs at the distribution and production levels, food costs would also rise.

Wouldn't be any $15 burgers at McDonalds but a 40% increase in prices is likely. Expect that $3.50 Big Mac to cost $5.00

What about the suppliers? If the price of Big Macs double and your paycheck increases by the same amount, how have you gained anything? Not to mention the fact that everyone who has anything saved just lost half their money.

[The Mad Monk]

$15/hr is about what trained lab technicians with bachelors degrees get now. Should they get minimum wage?

[Al B. Sure!]

What about the suppliers? If the price of Big Macs double and your paycheck increases by the same amount, how have you gained anything? Not to mention the fact that everyone who has anything saved just lost half their money.

I don't know labor prices and labor cost proportions with suppliers and distributors but I doubt it would cause a doubling of prices. 40% increase is a complete guess but I think it's appropriate. It would be a 20% increase if the wage law affected the retail level only


By the way, I've never made $15/hr in my life.

[Al B. Sure!]

Actually, I can first-hand estimate the effect because we had an increase from $5.15/hr to $7.25/hr while I was a manager in fast food. That's a 40% increase in labor costs. Since labor costs typically account for 20% of cost of business at the retail level, prices could be expected to increase by 8%.

We increased prices following the law piece-meal and some products saw price increases (some significant, like french fries) while others (like our 'value line') remained static. I don't have all the price changes for me to figure out definitively what the result was but in general, I'd say prices increased 10-15%. In general, it did seem like everything went up a dime on the dollar.

So yeah that means 40% increase in prices from a doubling of minimum wage would be on the high-end. A 25-37% increase in prices is my educated guess.

Of course, this is only considering the increase in costs associated with employees earning minimum wage. The increase we actually saw probably didn't inflate the wages of those making more than minimum wage much (actually, I was still making $9/hour before and after the minimum wage increase). Something as dramatic as doubling the minimum wage to $15/hr would have an inflationary effect on all wage-earners so the price of a burger will be higher than my 25-37% increase estimate. But $15 burgers at McDonalds is not likely.