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I find it confusing because of all companies employing warehouse employees Amazon pays the highest $15/hr minimum wage and provides health benefits on top. Ama

by mritun 6y ago

I find it confusing because of all companies employing warehouse employees Amazon pays the highest $15/hr minimum wage and provides health benefits on top. Amazon is asking for $15/hr to be made national minimum wage, but getting no support right now. Tell me again why isn’t $15/hr minimum wage getting any support?

slicktux 6y ago
National minimum wage does not make sense because cost of living varies per state; so small buisness would get hit hard in some states. Now, if Amazon wants to pay $15/hr nationally then good for them!
- samr71 6y ago
  I'd think that's the point behind most push from big business for a higher min wage. For them, it's another form of regulatory capture. Amazon or McDonalds can afford $15 nationally, but small mom-and-pop firms?
  - skrtskrt 6y ago
    You don't have an unalienable right to run your business by paying starvation wages
    - katbyte 6y ago
      This seems to be such a hard concept for people, in Canada cerb caused a a lot of people to say “but that’s more then I make/I can’t pay people more then cerb” - then maybe your business isn’t viable and should stop?
- runako 6y ago
  Just a reminder that the current minimum wage is below the poverty line in all 50 states. Those small businesses that would get "hit hard" by a $15 minimum wage? We're indirectly subsidizing those businesses with our federal taxes; those businesses are value-destroying enterprises. (Edit: It's not just small businesses getting this taxpayer subsidy. Walmart and other large employers similarly transfer wealth from taxpayers to their shareholders by relying on government welfare programs to allow their employees to continue to do their jobs. In a very real way, Walmart dividend checks are paid in part by US taxpayers.)
jandrewrogers 6y ago
$15/hr is the median wage for everyone in some States, and not that far below the national median. It would destroy businesses that can't afford to subsidize that wage with high-margin tech business on the side like Amazon can. It is extremely distortionate to set the minimum wage at the current median. There is not remotely enough margin available to make that reallocation possible without radically reducing income for the majority of workers either through job loss or income reduction.
typicalset 6y ago
There are arguments that the Amazon is pushing down warehouse worker salaries [0,1] (i.e. $15/hr is certainly not the highest warehouse worker wage). I read this campaign mainly as a public relations move in attempt to undermine union bargaining for substantial material demands, and am happy to hear other views. [0]: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2020-12-17/amazon-amzn-job-pay-rate-leaves-some-warehouse-employees-homeless https://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2020-12-17/amazon-am... [1]: https://www.vice.com/en/article/y3gj87/why-amazon-is-flooding-the-country-with-dollar15-minimum-wage-ads https://www.vice.com/en/article/y3gj87/why-amazon-is-floodin...

by mritun 6y ago

slicktux 6y ago

National minimum wage does not make sense because cost of living varies per state; so small buisness would get hit hard in some states. Now, if Amazon wants to pay $15/hr nationally then good for them!

samr71 6y ago
I'd think that's the point behind most push from big business for a higher min wage. For them, it's another form of regulatory capture. Amazon or McDonalds can afford $15 nationally, but small mom-and-pop firms?
- skrtskrt 6y ago
  You don't have an unalienable right to run your business by paying starvation wages
  - katbyte 6y ago
    This seems to be such a hard concept for people, in Canada cerb caused a a lot of people to say “but that’s more then I make/I can’t pay people more then cerb” - then maybe your business isn’t viable and should stop?
runako 6y ago
Just a reminder that the current minimum wage is below the poverty line in all 50 states. Those small businesses that would get "hit hard" by a $15 minimum wage? We're indirectly subsidizing those businesses with our federal taxes; those businesses are value-destroying enterprises. (Edit: It's not just small businesses getting this taxpayer subsidy. Walmart and other large employers similarly transfer wealth from taxpayers to their shareholders by relying on government welfare programs to allow their employees to continue to do their jobs. In a very real way, Walmart dividend checks are paid in part by US taxpayers.)

jandrewrogers 6y ago

$15/hr is the median wage for everyone in some States, and not that far below the national median. It would destroy businesses that can't afford to subsidize that wage with high-margin tech business on the side like Amazon can. It is extremely distortionate to set the minimum wage at the current median. There is not remotely enough margin available to make that reallocation possible without radically reducing income for the majority of workers either through job loss or income reduction.

typicalset 6y ago

There are arguments that the Amazon is pushing down warehouse worker salaries [0,1] (i.e. $15/hr is certainly not the highest warehouse worker wage). I read this campaign mainly as a public relations move in attempt to undermine union bargaining for substantial material demands, and am happy to hear other views. [0]: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2020-12-17/amazon-amzn-job-pay-rate-leaves-some-warehouse-employees-homeless https://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2020-12-17/amazon-am... [1]: https://www.vice.com/en/article/y3gj87/why-amazon-is-flooding-the-country-with-dollar15-minimum-wage-ads https://www.vice.com/en/article/y3gj87/why-amazon-is-floodin...