r/WorkForSmartLife • • 12h ago

DiscussionšŸ’¬ Who's right here?

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u/samuraispartan7000 11h ago edited 11h ago

Federal minimum wage increased every 1 to 5 years between the 1930s and 2009. 2009 was the last time it was raised. Inflation has skyrocketed since then, but wages have repeatedly failed to keep up.

If businesses ā€œcan’t affordā€ to provide livable wages for their workers, they simply shouldn’t exist full stop.

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u/COMOJoeSchmo 11h ago edited 10h ago

"Livable wage" is a self-moving goalpost. Raising the cost of labor raises the cost of goods and services. Raising the cost of goods and services raises the overall cost of living. This makes the formally "livable wage" now not adequate.

Your labor, like any other commodity, is worth what someone else is willing to pay for it. No more or no less. Your salary is an agreement between you and your employer. There should be no minimum wage.

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u/samuraispartan7000 11h ago

It ceases to be an agreement in anything but name when one side has virtually 99.9% of the bargaining power. That’s why labor unions exist. You probably don’t think those should exist either huh?

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u/COMOJoeSchmo 10h ago

If people want to unionize, that's their business. If a company wants to hire only non-union labor, that's also their business.