Seattle raises minimum wage to $15/hr

[no.1IrishFan]

It will be phased in over the next several years depending on the amount of employees the business has.

Before I became an RN, I had to get an associates degree(and student loans) to be a paramedic. I literally saved lives on a daily basis for $14.25/hr. Ands that's actually not bad considering the national average for medics.

Now you can just drop out of high school and go to Mc Donald's and make more.

Oh, and goodbye to a lot of small businesses in that area.

Thoughts?

Seattle approves $15 minimum wage - Jun. 2, 2014

 

[jimmymac]

bye bye small businesses. There are some reasonable claims for the raise of minimum wage, and while I am [edit] for the policy in general, a minimum wage of $15 will clearly have a hugely negative effect on the economy, IMO.

 

[Irish Insanity]

I am for a minimum wage increase. However, not a fan of it basically doubling.

 

[no.1IrishFan]

I am for a minimum wage increase. However, not a fan of it basically doubling.

Same here. It definitely needed to be raised, but damn.

 

[zelezo vlk]

Wow. That's crazy.

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[Irish#1]

Who wants to pay $7 for a Big Mac or Whopper?

 

[zelezo vlk]

I wouldn't pay anything for those. Man. The teens in Seattle will be very happy soon.

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[bobbyok1]

Bad economics . . . Just dumb

 

[Bluto]

Who wants to pay $7 for a Big Mac or Whopper?

Not going to happen. They will automate. My fear is that those garbage producing corporations will be able to absorb this much more easily than the local burger joint. It'll be interesting to see how this plays out.

 

[Rack Em]

An article about a Seattle suburb that raised the minimum wage to $15/hr. It's had pretty awful effects. It's an extremely short-sighted economic decision.

The Results of a Seattle Suburb’s Minimum Wage Hike Deserve a Big Fat ‘We Told You So’

 

[Bluto]

An article about a Seattle suburb that raised the minimum wage to $15/hr. It's had pretty awful effects. It's an extremely short-sighted economic decision.

The Results of a Seattle Suburb’s Minimum Wage Hike Deserve a Big Fat ‘We Told You So’

No offense but that article completely sucked as far as content and specifics go.

 

[Rack Em]

No offense but that article completely sucked as far as content and specifics go.

It's only been in place for a few months so there probably aren't many specifics to report yet. But it does give a general trend.

 

[yankeehater]

I wouldn't pay anything for those. Man. The teens in Seattle will be very happy soon.

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This statement is so untrue and the increase in min. wage will actually hurt teens. 50% of teens are currently unemployed in the US. The increase will likely add to unemployment, but even if not one person is laid off the hiring of someone at this higher wage becomes even more important. Research has shown that higher wage/salaried jobs tend to go to experienced more dependable employees (someone supporting a family or paying a mortgage) which would not be a teenager.

 

[GATTACA!]

This statement is so untrue and the increase in min. wage will actually hurt teens. 50% of teens are currently unemployed in the US. The increase will likely add to unemployment, but even if not one person is laid off the hiring of someone at this higher wage becomes even more important. Research has shown that higher wage/salaried jobs tend to go to experienced more dependable employees (someone supporting a family or paying a mortgage) which would not be a teenager.

But those statistics id assume are from a situation where both high and low paying jobs are available. If the floor is brought up i would imagine a large proportion of the minimum wage jobs no matter what the wage is will still be made up of younger inexperienced workers. Jobs that pay 15$ an hour will also have to increase their pay because at some point there is a trade off. Why would i want to go through schooling to get a job with you when i can walk into mcdonalds and be paid the same.

Im not for or against this idea, frankly i dont know that much about the effects at this point. My initial reaction though was that the type of people that are employed at minimum wage arn't exactly the people that are carefully planning out their retirement and stowing away a college fund for their kids. More likely than not a big portion of this increase will be spending money simply pumped back into the system.

 

[yankeehater]

I wouldn't pay anything for those. Man. The teens in Seattle will be very happy soon.

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But those statistics id assume are from a situation where both high and low paying jobs are available. If the floor is brought up i would imagine a large proportion of the minimum wage jobs no matter what the wage is will still be made up of younger inexperienced workers. Jobs that pay 15$ an hour will also have to increase their pay because at some point there is a trade off. Why would i want to go through schooling to get a job with you when i can walk into mcdonalds and be paid the same.

Im not for or against this idea, frankly i dont know that much about the effects at this point. My initial reaction though was that the type of people that are employed at minimum wage arn't exactly the people that are carefully planning out their retirement and stowing away a college fund for their kids. More likely than not a big portion of this increase will be spending money simply pumped back into the system.

For some reason, I thought this raise in the minimum wage was squashed a few months back. Reason I bring it up....is you ask about the effects. I have a relative who is an engineer at Boeing in Seattle who was down visiting when I thought it was shot down. He told me the reason it was shot down is Boeing announced they would move the 777 program out of the state. Cost are a major concern for any company and if you can move you will to help save money.

 

[GoIrish41]

Now we don't have to speculate on what might happen. We can see it play out.

 

[Rizzophil]

Think about this - 1/3 of all Americans 18-24 years old live with their parents. No employer wants to pay for the ObamaCare mandate, raised minimum wage, for someone without any experience.

I'm in favor of reducing minimum wage. Give employees an incentive to hire someone based on an opportunity. If they do their job well, employers will pay more to retain good employees. (Much cheaper to retain staff than hire new staff). If the person doesn't do well, they probably lose their job but can add to their experience / resume.

 

[RDU Irish]

Saw one Airport worker talk about it, said she thought sounded great.... until her 401k match was eliminated, she has more work put on her, healthcare coverage cancelled, no more free parking, no more overtime available, she used to get free food and tip jar is gone (not sure of the rationale behind the last one).

So now you can drop out of high school in Seattle, get two 30 hour jobs and make almost $47,000 per year.

Boeing is laughing in their Chicago corporate headquarters right now.

 

[NDohio]

For some reason, I thought this raise in the minimum wage was squashed a few months back. Reason I bring it up....is you ask about the effects. I have a relative who is an engineer at Boeing in Seattle who was down visiting when I thought it was shot down. He told me the reason it was shot down is Boeing announced they would move the 777 program out of the state. Cost are a major concern for any company and if you can move you will to help save money.

Saw one Airport worker talk about it, said she thought sounded great.... until her 401k match was eliminated, she has more work put on her, healthcare coverage cancelled, no more free parking, no more overtime available, she used to get free food and tip jar is gone (not sure of the rationale behind the last one).

So now you can drop out of high school in Seattle, get two 30 hour jobs and make almost $47,000 per year.

Boeing is laughing in their Chicago corporate headquarters right now.

Charleston, SC is celebrating the opportunity of bringing all the Boeing jobs down here.

 

[Black Irish]

I read that for tipped employees, tips are not considered part of the wage. In Delaware, tipped workers get paid 2.23 an hour because their tips average out to meet minimum wage requirements. So servers and bartenders in Seattle will be making $15/hr from the jump and tips on top of that. A good bartender or server in a busy spot can do pretty well as it is; throw in that hourly rate and some of them will really clean up. Provided their employers can absorb the labor cost.

 

[RDU Irish]

That was the rub with the employee I heard interviewed. Eliminating tips she now makes less at $15/hour (regardless of other benefits pulled) than she did at minimum plus tips.

I imagine the Seattle laws don't have a lower tipped worker wage.

 

[GoldenToTheGrave]

Well at least now the federal government won't have to subsidize their minimum wage employees with food stamps.

 

[Black Irish]

That was the rub with the employee I heard interviewed. Eliminating tips she now makes less at $15/hour (regardless of other benefits pulled) than she did at minimum plus tips.

I imagine the Seattle laws don't have a lower tipped worker wage.

AFAIK, they don't, at least not according to what I read. In general, most of the big, west coast cities don't. A server I worked with moved out to Portland not too long ago, and the high starting wage was one of the big pluses for her.

 

[Irish#1]

Not going to happen. They will automate. My fear is that those garbage producing corporations will be able to absorb this much more easily than the local burger joint. It'll be interesting to see how this plays out.

Not being argumentative, but don't bet on it. First these places are franchises. The owners are the ones who would have to absorb the cost, not BK, McD, Hardees, etc.. Second look at all the automation these restaurants already have in place. If they could automate more to reduce manpower costs it would be done already. All of these places look to add new items to their menus to get an advantage or stay current. All of these can't be made the same way. I've counted between 25 & 30 people working at some of these places during the busy times. That approximately $175 more an hour for labor which equates to $700 for four hours. That means they have to sell 140 additional items at $5 per to make up the difference. I definitely see prices going up to compensate for the $15.

 

[Black Irish]

This article wasn't written in response to the Seattle wage hike, but there is some food for thought. One of the reasons automation comes into play is when human labor costs get too high. I can see Seattle being the testing ground for automated cashiers, because the wage hike will force the hand of companies to start testing the equipment sooner rather than later.

McDonald’s automated cashier: Will it win with millennials? | Fast Casual

 

[T Town Tommy]

Well at least now the federal government won't have to subsidize their minimum wage employees with food stamps.

Right. They will have to increase the program for all those that are about to lose their jobs. No way Seattle can absorb the fallout from this. Everything small business will die out, tourism will decrease, etc. Teens will not be getting those $15 an hour jobs. They will be going to the older generation of people who do not have an adequate retirement in place. Fun times ahead for Seattle residents.

 

[Polish Leppy 22]

For better or worse, Seattle wanted it. They'll live with it.

 

[no.1IrishFan]

When the local market catches up to the pay increase in a few years, every hard working person who has done what they could to make a better income for themselves(say people who make between 13-15/hr), will now be right back at the bottom with the people who have earned nothing.

 

[Corry]

Everyone in Seattle now makes more than I do. Good for them.

 

[Henges24]

Do people realize that raising the minimum wage only raises prices? So in reality, you're not going anywhere just printing more money. Someone please explain the positives of doing such a thing. Makes zero sense.