Those $15/hr minimum wage raises .. aren’t really $15/hr

Front page articles and headline posts tell the story of a $15 per hour minimum wage that is being accepted by states all across the nation – but .. that’s not entirely the story.

Sure, New York and California are following other Pacific-coast lefty states in enacting a $15/hr minimum wage, but not today, or tomorrow, or next year or even the year after that! So what is the real minimum wage in those liberal states?

• While Seattle claims to be a $15/hr city, the April 2015 raise was only to $11/hr (from 9.76/hr). Considering the ridiculous cost of living in that city .. most low-wage workers won’t notice the additional ~$40/wk on average that they receive
• New York State is going towards $15/hr … in 2020. Yeah, bank on that … the state sees real jobs exiting the already expensive state in amazing numbers.

So what will $15/hr (inflation adjusted) be worth four years from now? Even if California or New York gets to 2020 solvent, by the time they do, those $15 will be worth less than $13 due to inflation. Sure, gasoline is lower, but every other necessary expense of a low-to-middle income earner is through the roof – so .. thanks unions that extra $40 a month is awesome beer money, but doesn’t change …. anything.

Unions didn’t negotiate anything that will help the working class to climb up – but that was never their goal. They negotiated something that will get the working class to enslave themselves to the  unions and the ruling class. if you want more money, vote union. Even if it’s not more money, but we say it is … or something.

Once workers believe that the government or labor are the only entities that decide their worth – those groups will decide what those people are worth.

The real question is what employers will do.

Kiosks – electronic cashiers – are popping up everywhere. Movie theaters, fast food restaurants and grocery stores – why do you think they’re experimenting with these technologies?

In business, people are a major expense. When your business has global exposure due to things like NAFTA and TPP, your labor costs suddenly look expensive when compared to Mexico, Venezuela, China or India. So what does a business do? They eliminate the labor cost by buying a kiosk, robot, or anything that doesn’t file a tax return, require worker’s comp insurance or bitch about their hours, pay, benefits or anything else in the work environment.

Minimum wage is a lie and it’s about to rear its ugly head.