Democrats introduce Raise the Wage Act ($15 min wage)

[PartySick 174,663]

Floridians voted to raise our minimum wage to $15 by 2026. I guess Biden and the Democrats said "eh, that's not soon enough"

[Defmix100 7,186]

3 hours ago, SonOfAphrodite said:

Yea it’s kind of a paradox. It really is much more complicated than I made it seem I was just throwing some food for thought since we are kind of trapped in our current way of living and it won’t change any time in the near future. I believe it benefits everyone to simply think of these ideas and break them apart, it could improve our current system. It really is inevitable to have a type of currency.

I've definitely thought about it a lot before and it's a shame that money links to almost every facet of life. I think it's not as much money as an issue though but human greed and selfishness. A world without those traits could be amazing

[Rj Barker 3,331]

This is good news I guess, its best to do it gradually, as someone who runs a hospitality business and if i had to pay everyone £10.92 an hour which is the equivalent of $15 all of sudden, I would definitely have to offset that loss by increasing prices which in turn alienates customers which means revenue down which means job losses. Its not so cut and dry as yes we should pay them more immediately.

Big companies absolutely could afford to do that no question, but then that creates job inequality, why would you come work for smaller independent businesses when burger King pays more. Itll force small businesses hands to pay the same and then we're screwed.

[Economy 53,156]

3 minutes ago, Rj Barker said:

This is good news I guess, its best to do it gradually, as someone who runs a hospitality business and if i had to pay everyone £10.92 an hour which is the equivalent of $15 all of sudden, I would definitely have to offset that loss by increasing prices which in turn alienates customers which means revenue down which means job losses. Its not so cut and dry as yes we should pay them more immediately.

Big companies absolutely could afford to do that no question, but then that creates job inequality, why would you come work for smaller independent businesses when burger King pays more. Itll force small businesses hands to pay the same and then we're screwed.

Well thats the thing too. Prices WILL rise

 

Minimum wage hikes are more of a sharing of purchasing power of the middle class towards working poor

 

The middle class income will not match inflation from minimum wage hikes and they will be slightly worse off while the minimum wage earners will be slightly better off because the overall inflation wont be as high as their raises... its what happened after my Province made a pretty big hike in a short time

 

Minimim wage hikes are more about fairness for ppl at the bottom, they dont really do much to tackle the issue of inequality of the very rich vs general population. Thats where tax hikes towards the rich individuals themselves come in

[Rj Barker 3,331]

9 minutes ago, Economy said:

Well thats the thing too. Prices WILL rise

 

Minimum wage hikes are more of a sharing of purchasing power of the middle class towards working poor

 

The middle class income will not match inflation from minimum wage hikes and they will be slightly worse off while the minimum wage earners will be slightly better off because the overall inflation wont be as high as their raises... its what happened after my Province made a pretty big hike in a short time

 

Minimim wage hikes are more about fairness for ppl at the bottom, they dont really do much to tackle the issue of inequality of the very rich vs general population. Thats where tax hikes towards the rich individuals themselves come in

Aboutely, I get it. I just did some numbers in my head and if I put that wage increase in all my stores today without raising prices it would cost me £4,000 a week which is $5,500. That doesn't include probably having to give my managers more money because they'll need a wage increase so that the added stress of a manager position is still worth it. 

[Rj Barker 3,331]

Woops double post

[SonOfAphrodite 1,838]

42 minutes ago, Ladey Gaygay said:

I agree with literally all of what you said, but a bitch needs to pay for gas lol

I know I still gotta pay bills and **** how gross 

[SonOfAphrodite 1,838]

52 minutes ago, Economy said:

In principal this could work provided everyone maintains a work ethic despite not having the reward factor (which im skeptical many would maintain any level of drive tbh)

 

But what really makes me question this is the logistical nightmare of trying to fundamentally dismantle something this engraned

 

I think its a huge oversimplifocation of the problem to suggest the only reason the system cant change is because the wealthy dont want it to. I think even if the rich were on board with it hypathetically ir would still be an insanely complicated feat to pull off such a drastic change

 

But i agree with u money is the root of like 90% of evil, abuse and inhumaine acts. If we could somehow function without it, it would be better!

People definitely thrive on the reward factor so that is a challenge for sure. It would be the biggest logistical nightmare! I can’t even begin to think of everything that would need to be changed. It’s definitely a huge oversimplification I agree haha but I do believe these systems are there to benefit a few number of people over the majority. I always enjoy reading your articulate insights. We can only dream of a world like that  Gaga was on to something with Chromatica haha

[Woolfsmck 2,763]

9 hours ago, TEANUS said:

I don’t think y’all realize how many businesses would go under if tomorrow the government decided that the federal minimum wage was $15

The gradual increase is the way to go

big buisness will benefit actually...

the mom and pop's won't take away as much buisness volume so the additional sales revenue will go to large corp chains who can pay the additional wage expenses.  

With the increase in the cost of living, the additional revenue for 'joe the worker' just goes back into the pockets of the rich anyway...

So....however well intentioned,  the middle class gets smaller 

[Woolfsmck 2,763]

5 hours ago, Economy said:

Minimim wage hikes are more about fairness for ppl at the bottom, they dont really do much to tackle the issue of inequality of the very rich vs general population. Thats where tax hikes towards the rich individuals themselves come in

Basic cost of living increases need to be addressed if there is to be equity...

The top tier of the economic ladder will always be far far ahead of the general masses ...

Simply, 'Tax the Rich' is far too narrow of a method to 'equalize' society ...

Balancing the 'needs' with the lowest tier is the only fair way to keep perspective imo..

Those who excel or innovate need not be punished for doing so...

Make things like electricity, healthcare and food staples nonprofit charities...

Tax everything above that at a rate that can sustain and those who make way more should be able to enjoy the fruits of their success..

[AJRocketMan 2,684]

13 hours ago, Ronnie said:

I work for a small business in AZ and when our minimum wage increased a few years back, it almost killed us. We had to raise prices which negatively affected our revenue which caused lay offs.

Even if small businesses were allowed more time, it would be hard to find employees because they would all be working for larger corporations.

Are you talking about 2017, when minimum wage in Arizona went from $8.05 to $10/hr? That’s not a lot sis. I’m sorry that happened to your employer, I really am, but they could’ve done more negate the effects of a minimum wage increase. You guys probably needed to advertise more, so you could bring more customers in.

But the circumstances surrounding the loss of revenue probably wasn’t entirely your guys’ fault; it was likely also environmental. If raising prices causes a loss of revenue, then that means the people that live in your area and patronize those stores have really messed up priorities and only want cheap goods and services — at the expense of quality and supporting the local community. 

50 years of degrading the purchasing power of the American dollar and the working classes while simultaneously having our government practice neoliberal supply-side economics have dug us into a hole that’s going to be EXTREMELY painful, but ultimately necessary, to get ourselves out of.

[JRCF29 8,230]

DOA in the Senate if it's not watered down beyond recognition in a House committee first.

 

They try this bill every year

[RRR 3,996]

Are they raising everyone else's salary too? Like someone who makes $15-$20 an hour already, or even went to school for such a position, and now they make the same as Burger King staff

[JRCF29 8,230]

Senators to watch: Kelly (AZ), Sinema (AZ), Manchin (WV). If even one of them opposes, it's over. 

Plus: There are 13 members of the Senate Democratic Caucus that aren't sponsors of this bill. It doesn't mean that they won't support it, but they're not locks for a yes vote. 

 

[Petie Estie 5,741]

22 hours ago, Gabe said:

By 2025 😂

there has never been a minimum wage increase this large without a gradual increase. I thought everybody knew it would be years before we got to $15 once it was actually passed. This is why it's so annoying when people are against a $15 minimum wage. It was a reasonable request in 2015, more than reasonable, and it's still fine now....if lacking. You have to think 5 years ahead. 

 

I wish Democrats would get their head out of their ass and make a real change to the minimum wage and tie it to being well above the poverty line so it always increases.