• Sparlock@lemmy.world
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          11 months ago

          But it is relevant?

          Just like when massive unions get better pay rates (or weekends) it raises the bar for what all other workers expect, except the min wage has MORE effect since it applies across all employment.

        • MasterBlaster@lemmy.world
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          11 months ago

          And $7.50 is a pointless figure to use as representative of minimum wage. When established, the minimum wage was equivalent to $26 today, and most states had higher minimums even before they went up to $15.

          • SCB@lemmy.world
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            11 months ago

            I think we should tie the minimum wage to local (probably generally county/parish) COL, updated biannually.

            But the minimum wage currently shapes a miniscule amount of people’s bargaining power.

    • MasterBlaster@lemmy.world
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      11 months ago

      Dude, that is the federal minimum, which hasn’t been raised in over 30 years. The states had minimums closer to $10 to $12 in the last 20 years, and many went up to $15 in the last 3 years. That is still much less buying power than minimum wage was at its establishment.

      • SCB@lemmy.world
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        11 months ago

        That’s not relevant to any discussion tho. 1.3% of people are at the federal min

        • Sparlock@lemmy.world
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          11 months ago

          Dude I corrected you on this EXACT BS you posted earlier.

          You might just be a chat bot.

        • MasterBlaster@lemmy.world
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          11 months ago

          If someone is claiming that the rise In minimum wages in many states does not impact the “wages are growing faster than inflation” assertion, it is entirely relevant as many of those people saw a 33% raise over the last few years, and that is way more than 1.3% of wage earners.

        • 20hzservers@lemmy.world
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          11 months ago

          I’m here to help and provide information or assistance on a wide range of topics. If something seems weird or if you have a specific question or topic you’d like to discuss, feel free to let me know, and I’ll do my best to assist you!

          –ChatSCB

    • teuast@lemmy.ca
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      11 months ago

      Your number leaves out all of the people whose pay rates are above minimum wage, but are still poverty wages. There is quite a large gap between minimum and poverty, and not in the direction that benefits the working class.

      Furthermore, raising the minimum wage leads to people in that gap also getting raises. People can and do benefit tremendously from the minimum wage being raised, even if they have never personally worked at minimum wage. As such, the minimum wage is relevant to far, far more workers than are actually getting it.

      • SCB@lemmy.world
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        11 months ago

        Your number leaves out all of the people whose pay rates are above minimum wage, but are still poverty wages.

        This is because minimum wage has nothing to do with this discussion

        This is my original point.

        Furthermore, raising the minimum wage leads to people in that gap also getting raises.

        They’re already getting raises because wages are up across the board. There are two jobs for every person right now and that isn’t likely to change for a long time.

        • teuast@lemmy.ca
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          11 months ago

          I’m sorry, how in the fuck is the minimum wage not related to the fact that rising prices and inflation are causing people to struggle financially? That’s like saying the tides have nothing to do with surfing.

          And sure, wages are up, the problem is that if you bother to account for inflation and COL, the purchasing power they provide is down. That’s what people mean when they say “real wages.” I’m sure you know that on some level, even if for purposes of this discussion, you’re pretending not to.

          • SCB@lemmy.world
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            11 months ago

            I’m sorry, how in the fuck is the minimum wage not related to the fact that rising prices and inflation are causing people to struggle financially?

            Because a small enough people make.minimum wage that it has no bearing on overall price pressures for labor.

            Idk why you think I’m “pretending” anything.

            • teuast@lemmy.ca
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              11 months ago

              I think you’re pretending not to understand the relevance of the minimum wage because two comments ago I said this:

              Furthermore, raising the minimum wage leads to people in that gap also getting raises. People can and do benefit tremendously from the minimum wage being raised, even if they have never personally worked at minimum wage. As such, the minimum wage is relevant to far, far more workers than are actually getting it.

              And you proceeded to act like I didn’t.

              • Sparlock@lemmy.world
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                11 months ago

                He’s a troll and not a good faith interlocutor so don’t expect honesty from him.

              • SCB@lemmy.world
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                11 months ago

                I understand you said it, but that doesn’t make it true.

                It would be true if any significant number of people made minimum wage, but they don’t.

                • Sparlock@lemmy.world
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                  11 months ago

                  While it’s true that less than 1.3% of people make minimum wage, it’s important to recognize that the minimum wage sets a baseline for the broader labor market. Even though a small percentage of workers are directly affected, the minimum wage often serves as a reference point for wage negotiations and can have a cascading effect on wages above the minimum. While the direct impact may be limited to a specific percentage of workers, the broader implications of minimum wage policies are relevant to a much larger economic context.

                • teuast@lemmy.ca
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                  11 months ago

                  I mean, at least you acknowledged that I said it this time. Even if I’m now slightly less convinced that you deliberately aren’t getting it, because you still didn’t seem to understand what I was actually arguing.

                  They say it takes exponentially more effort to debunk bullshit than it does to spread it, and when I’m making a real effort to make a point and your rebuttal is basically “nuh uh,” that seems to hold true. Fortunately, I don’t have to type out the argument myself when I can just post Charlynn Teter’s excellent essay, sources included, about it instead. https://bpr.berkeley.edu/2021/01/30/no-more-lies-the-truth-about-raising-the-minimum-wage/ I look forward to how you “nuh uh” this.

                  • SCB@lemmy.world
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                    11 months ago

                    So, couple things.

                    First, and least important (but still important), this article is out of date

                    In California, 96 percent of workers who would benefit from the proposed minimum wage increase to $15 are over the age of 20, and 58 percent are over the age of 30

                    This data is not accurate after wage increases

                    Second, this article has nothing to do with what we’re talking about. I have nothing against raising the minimum wage. I think it should be tied to local cost of living and reassessed every 2 years.

                    What we’re talking about is that raising the minimum wage would not provide the price pressure on the labor market you think it will, because there are already more jobs than people and wages are already rising as a result (though slowing, in which case your argument may someday become relevant again).

                    The market is unlikely to shift away from labor for over a generation, barring some ludicrous advancement in AI and robotics. Our population is shrinking while our economy is growing. That’s bad for employers in price-sensitive markets but great for literally all employees (until they get old, but whatcha gonna do).

                    Raise the minimum wage. Go nuts. It won’t affect average wages in any significant way, because not enough people are on the minimum wage.