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posted by cmn32480 on Wednesday May 20 2015, @02:20PM   Printer-friendly

Jennifer Medina reports at the NYT that the the city council of nation’s second-largest city voted by a 14-1 margin to increase its minimum wage to $15 an hour by 2020, in what is perhaps the most significant victory so far in the national push to raise the minimum wage. Several other cities, including San Francisco, Seattle and Oakland, Calif., have already approved increases, and dozens more are considering doing the same.

In 2014, a number of Republican-leaning states like Alaska and South Dakota also raised their state-level minimum wage by referendum. The impact is likely to be particularly strong in Los Angeles, where, according to some estimates, more than 40 percent of the city’s work force earns less than $15 an hour. “The proposal will bring wages up in a way we haven’t seen since the 1960s," says Michael Reich. "There’s a sense spreading that this is the new norm, especially in areas that have high costs of housing.”

It's important to remember that the minimum wage hike comes at a significant direct cost to business — well over a $1 billion a year, according to the mayor's analysis — and it would be foolish to pretend that it won't lead to some job losses and business closures. Critics say the increase will turn the city into a “wage island,” pushing businesses away into nearby places where they can pay employees less. “They are asking businesses to foot the bill on a social experiment that they would never do on their own employees,” says Stuart Waldman, president of the Valley Industry and Commerce Association, a trade group that represents companies and other organizations in Southern California. “A lot of businesses aren’t going to make it. It’s great that this is an increase for some employees, but the sad truth is that a lot of employees are going to lose their jobs.”

 
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  • (Score: 2, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday May 20 2015, @06:27PM

    by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday May 20 2015, @06:27PM (#185636)

    Your job does not pay you enough to afford daily expenses like rent, food, heat, and transportation. You therefore qualify for government assistance. This assistance is paid from my taxes.

    As far as I am concerned the businesses are using the government to subsidize the pay for their workers. Where is the personal responsibility for the businesses to pay a living wage.

    And to all of the people who will come out of the woodwork and complain that the businesses cannot afford higher wages. Well if you cannot afford higher wages then you cannot afford to have help. If you business would fail without the subsidized labor then it needs to fail. Open the market place to people who can make money and provide a living wage.

    Many companies of all stripes can afford living wages right now, if you can't compete then the free market says you should go away.

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