Saturday, May 30, 2015

Indeed, We Are Worth More!

Remember when Scott Walker said that the push for raising the minimum wage was "a distraction" and that the minimum wage "doesn't serve a purpose?"  He even echoed the right wing talking point that raising the minimum wage - especially to $15 - would do nothing but force businesses to close and kill a bajillion jobs.

We should be so lucky:
If Seattle businesses are closing up shop in response to our $15 minimum wage, you wouldn’t know it from our falling unemployment rate:
King County’s unemployment rate reach[ed] a low not seen since April 2008, data released Tuesday by the state Employment Security Department show.

King County’s unemployment rate in April was 3.3 percent, compared to 4 percent in March and 4.1 percent in April 2014.
Okay, monthly unemployment data is not seasonally adjusted, so the rate will surely rise in May and June as college and high school graduates join the workforce (like it does every year). And of course, it will take years—maybe even a couple decades—to fully suss out the employment effect (if any) of Seattle’s phased-in $15 minimum wage.

But again, if employers are cutting back on hiring in anticipation of rising labor costs—like $15 critics insist a rationally self-interested employer would—you wouldn’t know it from our falling unemployment rate.
So, I would say to the unions and organizations like Wisconsin Jobs Now, keep on fighting!

We'll all be better off for it when you are victorious.

2 comments:

  1. And in other news, local Federation of Labor honcho, Rusty Hicks, part of Raise The Wage in California, wants an exception to newly passed $15 by 2020 in Las Angeles. Seems Rusty want employers not to have to pay $15 per hour as long as said company has a union. See, it's all about lining the Union Bosses pockets.

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    Replies
    1. So it's wrong for the unionized workers take their compensation in other forms such as health care coverage or pensions?

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