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A lot of this is because there has traditionally been an imbalance between employer and employee, where if they stop exchanging labor for money the employer suf
by Drakim 5y ago
A lot of this is because there has traditionally been an imbalance between employer and employee, where if they stop exchanging labor for money the employer suffers a mild inconvenience while getting a new person hired, while the employee faces the possibility of losing access to food, shelter and medicine for them and their family.
This power imbalance means that the employee will often not complain about having wages stolen, complain about safety violations, or even be able to bargain fairly for the value of their labor. It's real hard to strike a fair business exchange with somebody who has a metaphorical gun pointed at your head.
Due to these unemployment benefits, that gun is gone for a lot of people, and they can push back harder and say that "no, the terms you are offering me for my labor is not good, I will not take this job" and the industries and businesses are losing their shit over this. Economical trouble and turmoil is for the "small people" to suffer, they shouldn't have to offer better wages to navigate a shifting economical landscape, they are entitled to cheap labor.
- smaryjerry 5y agoBusinesses aren’t worried about paying better wages, they are worried about being unable to produce their goods or services. Sure they can give better wages but now what they are producing has to cost more. Have that happen across all industries and it is inflation. With inflation no one ends up better than where they started, particularly the lowest wage employees will be the hardest hit by inflation.
- Drakim 5y agoWages has roughly stagnated while inflation has driven up the price of goods for a long time in America, yet we didn't do anything to help those who had less and less buying power. They simply had to get another job, or if they couldn't, forgo good shelter and medicine. If you can't afford rent, you get thrown out on the street, that's just life. Meanwhile, despite this downwards trend that's been shrinking the middle class in America, American industry has actually been booming the last ten years. America is richer than ever before, but it's workers are paid (due to inflation) less than they were. So it's real hard to emphasize with the businesses who are seeing thinner margins because of higher labor costs.
- mc32 5y agoAgreed that low skill labor wages have stagnated due to an oversupply of cheap labor and minimum wage lagging inflation... But, regardless people are opting to stay home with government benefits over slightly better earnings via work. So they are okay with having less money if it means doing nothing.
- smaryjerry 5y agoThat is false. Wages have increased significantly per the chart for median real weekly earnings from the fed. Real means it has been adjusted for inflation and median is the middle wages. Median is better than average because it accounts for uneven distribution of wealth that you claimed is occurring. https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/LES1252881600Q https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/LES1252881600Q