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Los Angeles Raises Minimum Wage To $15 an Hour
HughPickens.com writes: Jennifer Medina reports at the NY Times that the council of the nation's second-largest city voted by a 14-1 margin to increase its minimum wage to $15 an hour by 2020. Los Angeles and its almost 4 million residents represent one of the biggest victories yet for those pushing wage increases across the country. Proponents hope it will start to reverse the earning gap in the city, where the top 7% of households earn more than the bottom 67%.
Detractors point out the direct cost increase to businesses, which could total as much as a billion dollars per year. If a business can't handle the increased cost, the employees this measure was designed to help will lose their jobs when it folds. An editorial from the LA Times says it's vital for other cities nearby to increase their minimum wage, too, else businesses will gradually migrate to cheaper locations. They add, "While the minimum wage hike will certainly help the lowest-wage workers in the city, it should not be seen as the centerpiece of a meaningful jobs creation strategy. The fact is that far too many jobs in the city are low-wage jobs — some 37% of workers currently earn less than $13.25 an hour, according to the mayor's estimates — and even after the proposed increase, they would still be living on the edge of poverty."
Detractors point out the direct cost increase to businesses, which could total as much as a billion dollars per year. If a business can't handle the increased cost, the employees this measure was designed to help will lose their jobs when it folds. An editorial from the LA Times says it's vital for other cities nearby to increase their minimum wage, too, else businesses will gradually migrate to cheaper locations. They add, "While the minimum wage hike will certainly help the lowest-wage workers in the city, it should not be seen as the centerpiece of a meaningful jobs creation strategy. The fact is that far too many jobs in the city are low-wage jobs — some 37% of workers currently earn less than $13.25 an hour, according to the mayor's estimates — and even after the proposed increase, they would still be living on the edge of poverty."
From the website:
Know a young conservative who should be on Red Alert's 2015 '30 Under 30' List? Nominate them by May 29. Read more at http://redalertpolitics.com/20...
The only way this could be a more blatant "Conservative" Propaganda site is if they named it Hitler Youth Life
Going to school and learning a skill that actually deserves a high paying salary also helps lift poor people out of poverty. Paying $30k a year for an entry job flipping burgers is not economically feasible for a restaurant nor does it make sense for that type of job. Margins are very close and a raise like this can close it. I hate the socialistic narrative that profit is bad and if a company profits too much it's now the bad guy. A business exists to make a profit for its owner or share holders. The problem with Socialism is that eventually other peoples money run out. In the end wealth redistribution never works. This whole thing is an appeal to morals and since it has to do with money it sure gets emotions involved.
Specks
Batteries not included
Or you work for an ISP in tech support
One thing that has turned really wrong in the United States is the overuse and abuse of euphemisms
The so-called "tech support" job is actually not much more than the job of a 'telephone receptionist' of yesteryear
Many people like to say that they work in the 'tech sector' because it sounds 'important', but the actual fact is that most of them don't contribute in any way in innovation nor to advance the technological field
A 'telephone receptionist' job is a 'telephone receptionist' job. Calling it a 'tech support' won't change the fact that it belongst to the lowest rung of the tech sector