Minimum Wage

In New York City, for instance, the minimum wage for workers in fast food and state government will rise to $10.50 on New Year’s Eve, and to $15 by the end of 2018. In the rest of New York, the minimum for those workers will reach $15 an hour in mid-2021. In Los Angeles County, including the city of Los Angeles, the minimum wage for most workers will rise to $10.50 by mid-2016 and to $15 by mid-2020. Seattle and San Francisco are also phasing in citywide minimums of $15 an hour, while five other cities — Buffalo and Rochester in New York; Greensboro, N.C.; Missoula, Mont.; and Pittsburgh — are gradually raising their minimums to $15 for city

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/12/27/o...m-wages-in-the-new-year.html?ref=opinion&_r=1
 
Harvard Business School's recent study shows the impact of minimum wage laws in the Bay area

LINK

"We find suggestive evidence that an increase in the minimum wage leads to an overall increase in the rate of exit," the researchers conclude.

"The evidence suggests that higher minimum wages increase overall exit rates for restaurants. However, lower quality restaurants, which are already closer to the margin of exit, are disproportionately impacted by increases to the minimum wage," says the study. "Our point estimates suggest that a one dollar increase in the minimum wage leads to a 14 percent increase in the likelihood of exit for a 3.5-star restaurant (which is the median rating), but has no discernible impact for a 5-star restaurant (on a 1 to 5 star scale)."

"Currently, rising labor costs are causing margins in the sector to plummet. Those with the ability to automate like McDonalds are doing so… and those who don’t are closing their doors. In September 2016, one-quarter of restaurant closures in the California Bay Area cited rising labor costs as one of the reasons for closing," McBride wrote in Forbes.

"While wage increases put more money in the pocket of some, others are bearing the costs by having their hours reduced and being made part-time," he added.

As noted by Red Alert Politics, the Bay Area is headed for a $15 minimum wage in July of 2018, though they've already seen over 60 restaurants close since September.
 
From Bernie Sanders...

"Millions of Americans are working for totally inadequate wages. We must ensure that no full-time worker lives in poverty," Sanders' website reads. "The current federal minimum wage is starvation pay and must become a living wage. We must increase it to $15 an hour over the next several years."

Bernie tweeted about some open intern positions:

Sanders' office describes its interns as an "integral" part of the office.

Interns are an integral part of our Senate operation and contribute greatly to the senator's work on behalf of Vermont and the nation. Senate interns have the unique privilege of gaining an insider's perspective on the legislative and representative process. Our Washington and Burlington offices offer paid full- and part-time internships tailored for recent graduates and current students at the undergraduate or graduate level.

In a debate with Hilary Clinton, Sanders said: "You have no disposable income when you are making 10, 12 bucks an hour."

Bernie plans to pay his interns $12/hr this summer
 
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In theory I'm fine with an increase in the minimum wage, if only to keep up with inflation. I haven't seen a good answer though for how you help those people like me who make more than minimum but will get killed with higher prices on everything (on top of the absurd health premiums I pay that are higher than a typical mortgage) or how you help the real true small businesses and mom and pop stores that will get hurt. I also don't understand how the people who claim to have the backs of those "small businesses" (most Republicans) continue to defend the big boys who have no problem screwing over those businesses and the middle class to help themselves. Raising the minimum wage is not a long-term fix for the economic woes of most Americans.
 
bravesnumberone said:
In theory I'm fine with an increase in the minimum wage, if only to keep up with inflation. I haven't seen a good answer though for how you help those people like me who make more than minimum but will get killed with higher prices on everything (on top of the absurd health premiums I pay that are higher than a typical mortgage) or how you help the real true small businesses and mom and pop stores that will get hurt. I also don't understand how the people who claim to have the backs of those "small businesses" (most Republicans) continue to defend the big boys who have no problem screwing over those businesses and the middle class to help themselves. Raising the minimum wage is not a long-term fix for the economic woes of most Americans.
Click to expand...

Eliminating minimum wage laws helps small businesses.

Big businesses can afford them, or afford to automate to not need the people anymore
 
Link: From fivethirtyeight

As cities across the country pushed their minimum wages to untested heights in recent years, some economists began to ask: How high is too high?

Seattle, with its highest-in-the-country minimum wage,1 may have hit that limit.

In January 2016, Seattle’s minimum wage jumped from $11 an hour to $13 for large employers, the second big increase in less than a year. New research released Monday by a team of economists at the University of Washington suggests the wage hike may have come at a significant cost: The increase led to steep declines in employment for low-wage workers, and a drop in hours for those who kept their jobs. Crucially, the negative impact of lost jobs and hours more than offset the benefits of higher wages — on average, low-wage workers earned $125 per month less because of the higher wage, a small but significant decline.
 
sturg33 said:
Link: From fivethirtyeight

As cities across the country pushed their minimum wages to untested heights in recent years, some economists began to ask: How high is too high?

Seattle, with its highest-in-the-country minimum wage,1 may have hit that limit.

In January 2016, Seattle’s minimum wage jumped from $11 an hour to $13 for large employers, the second big increase in less than a year. New research released Monday by a team of economists at the University of Washington suggests the wage hike may have come at a significant cost: The increase led to steep declines in employment for low-wage workers, and a drop in hours for those who kept their jobs. Crucially, the negative impact of lost jobs and hours more than offset the benefits of higher wages — on average, low-wage workers earned $125 per month less because of the higher wage, a small but significant decline.
Click to expand...

You can't makeup how naive some are on simple economics.
 
I have been working for almost 20 years and the only time I made minimum wage was at 16 as a bagger at a grocery store. I worked with a lot of people who make minimum wage or near minimum wage and a lot of them dont deserve better than that. I could go on for a long time with specific examples of people I remember. One girl was on welfare and was required to work 20 hours a week to keep getting payments. She outright refused to work more than the minimum 20 she was required. Then she talked all the time about buying her new iPhone and all this other useless **** like handbags. Its always nice seeing a welfare queen with a brand new iPhone when I was working full time using the cheapest flip phone available. There was umpteen million employees who couldnt or wouldnt come to work consistently. Many that came to work with the intention of trying to avoid as much work as possible. I started at Wal Mart 6 months ago for a remodeling project and I could clearly see most of the other people I was hired with are dumbasses. Most actively tried to avoid work as much as possible. 40 hours hit and they were out the door while there was opportunity for up to 20 hours of overtime a week. These same people who avoided as much work as possible now say how lucky I am because I am being promoted. They have no concept of working to get ahead. This is what people mean when they say being poor is a mindset.

And FYI Wal Mart starting pay is 10.50. I hear McDonalds even hires for 9$ an hour. If someone makes minimum wage right now they are either a teenager or lazy/stupid. And for the record I could gotten a higher paying job but I wanted something not emotionally/physically draining and at night so I could go to school during the day.
 
I support a wage floor- yes
and believe I sided here with HRC during the primary that $12 was more sustainable than $15

please stop using the term forced. It is mis leading and over the top
 
What is it if it's not forced. You are not giving an option to employers to pay under a certain threshold.
 
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