Exactly! That's why here in Oregon every year when our minimum wage goes up every resturant prints new menu's to reflect the new prices. It drives up the cost of everything produced or serviced by minimum wage earners. I get tired of prices going up faster than my pay %-wise.

I believe in the laws of capitalism. You earn what the market will bear. It should be up to the companies what they want to pay. The "minimum wage" would work itself out just fine. If you could not get people to do whatever job you were offering you would have to pay more. Some jobs are tougher than others so some folks might do some easy no brainer job for $4 an hour but instead they make just as much as someone with a tougher job that also pays minimum wage.

The other problem is you can't hardly get people to do a good job because they know they can get another burger flipping/convenience store job day after tomorrow and be making the same wage. (some) People in minimum wage jobs can't go down in income so they don't care about keeping their jobs and they do drugs, show up late/don't even show up, steal, perform poorly etc, etc....

My wife's family owns a couple national chain fast food restaurants so that's where I'm getting my personal experiences that I'm relating here.

Yours may differ. MHO

PS: No offense intended to anyone who has a minimum wage job. The wife's family has some great people working for them (who have mostly all been promoted to managers with better salaries and benefits) but a lot of worthless ones too. I just think they should be able to pay what they want and they could afford to then give raises to some of the better performers and keep the good people and pay less for the people who don't do a good job. Unfortunately with our minimum wage at about $7+ an hour they can barely balance the books paying that.

 

But that'll never happen. Unions would block paying what the business wants to pay. It would have to be so much more money so the big guys can take most of it and live in big houses while doing nothing to help anyone. I think most unions have outlived their usefulness. And your right, your wage goes up 10 % and good go up 20%, but few people realize it.

 

I don't think the unions are the problem personally. I think it's bleeding heart liberals. I don't think most min. wage jobs are union jobs. At least around here they're not.