cross-posted from: https://infosec.pub/post/916523
Sen. Bernie Sanders is once again calling for a higher federal minimum wage. The current rate has been $7.25 since 2009.
Minimum wage should be RELATIVE not absolute. When we started the fight for 15 that was OK but pretty sure after the inflation we had it’s not enough. Let’s make minimum wage relative to provide the minimum necessities to live in any city in the country. Or make it a percentage of the highest paid CEO salary. It’s gotta be relative, not a dollar amount but an amount of living you can afford.
Yes, and also:
- Mandatory salary transparency
- All hires gain shares of the company while employed there
In some European countries it is tied to the cost of living. All wages, not just minimum wages, are indexed to match the inflation.
I completely agree with you in theory. Minimum wage should be the minimum amount someone needs to live a non-desperate life. Or some smarter way to say that. My only fear is that Goodhart’s Law would come into effect “When a measure becomes a target, it ceases to be a good measure.” I’m worried that the dickbags would find ways to skew the calculation, to pay people less. Maybe that’s still a better alternative than fighting to raise it to a defined amount over and over and over again, though. I just wanted to mention how I was worried. Because of the dickbags.
That’s a good point. I’m sure they’d do something like that. That’s why we tie it to a ton of measures: cost of a gallon of milk+minimum rent+average healthcare costs for a family+S&P 500+cost of phone and internet+etc. A huge, comprehensive reflection of the cost of living AND include the oligarchs favorite market metrics. If we have to bail out Silicon Valley venture capital, they should pay higher minimum wage when they are reaping large returns.
I agree with you, that sounds like a way to make it harder for them to screw with the measurement. I’d vote for it!
(My new worry is that they’d see it being an issue well before it was implemented, and pay Fox News to call it part of the trans, communist agenda or whatever, so it would never pass. Fuck. Maybe that’s enough bubble bath white wine for now…)
Not democrats, the progressives that should be in their own party. Democrats are gonna let it fizzle out like they always do.
Third candidates don’t even work, so that will only backfire unless First Past the Post voting is replaced.
That is $34k a year for full time. The minimum wage was around $15 (too lazy to do the exact math right now) in todays dollars in 1968. I doubt that would cause major issues in the overall economy and would help many.
If you are writing now wage laws, please have them double on national holidays.
In an economy that is based on charging each other, the more people that has money the more opportunity for all.
What I think a lot of people who are against this are forgetting, is that this type of thing can be great in the long run. I’m sure a $10 jump would hurt some businesses, but it should also be on those businesses to manage their finances to handle it.
You’re in a union or job where you make a dollar over the new minimum despite having lots of schooling to get there? Hey, now you have a great reason/excuse to rally together and demand an equivalent raise of your own.
Minimum wage increasing would also mean that more money would go back into the system through taxes and spending, instead of having it just sit in a few people’s bank accounts.
Something I don’t understand is why is a specific number tied to the minimum wage. Is there not a legitimate mathematical way to calculate “minimum wage” depending on where you live and your local economy?
It’s not hard, governments index shit all the time. In Australia my university debt is indexed to the inflation rate.
Okay, but why not set the minimum wage to a thriving wage - and then index it with inflation year on year.
In Europe it is almost always tied to the inflation number and automatically updated every year.
It varies wildly between countries in Europe. There are initiatives to have some sort of common baseline though.
That’s good of him, but I wonder if that can even pass, given that Republicans hold the house, and Manchin and Sinema exist. In the end, I’d settle for $10 to $11 an hour, the removal of loopholes like $2.13 minimum an hour for tipped wages, and similar fixes.
It’s a good starting point at least, and Manchin said he was okay with an $11 minimum wage. I just hope it’s not just fronting, and something actually comes of this.
There’s no point to passing that. I’d rather not pretend.
