BC Minimum Wage Increase - $15

[Armind]

Employers should just load more duties/responsibilities for $15. Gotta earn it, right?

$15/hr dishwasher? Fuck that, you're mopping all the floors and cleaning the stoves also.

[MarkyMark]

Originally Posted by Hondaracer

another problem i have is until the system catches up as a whole, what is the incentive for some bum to work harder or even maintain a job they have 'experiance' with ?

a guy who has some half ass skill in construction who might know some processes like form work etc. why the hell would he continue to bust his ass in a physical job that takes a toll for $16-$18 an hour when he could go smoke crack all day and drive a lordco car delivering parts for $1 less?

no incentive for the bottom feeders to learn skills or progress when their ceiling is now closer to their floor.

Well if these companies can no longer find someone to break their back for $18 then maybe it will force them to up their wages until someone else is willing to do it. Isn't that how business works, you pay what someone is willing to work for?

[yray]

Originally Posted by MarkyMark

Who's to say someone making minimum wage doesn't work hard? From my experience, the more money you make the easier your job actually gets. If working hard only goes by the amount of hours you put in then sure, small business owners work harder than anyone.

You get paid to handle the bullshit

[Bouncing Bettys]

Originally Posted by Armind

Employers should just load more duties/responsibilities for $15. Gotta earn it, right?

$15/hr dishwasher? Fuck that, you're mopping all the floors and cleaning the stoves also.

They likely already were doing that.
According to the Economic Policy Institute:

[Hondaracer]

Originally Posted by MarkyMark

Well if these companies can no longer find someone to break their back for $18 then maybe it will force them to up their wages until someone else is willing to do it. Isn't that how business works, you pay what someone is willing to work for?

thats why i said the system needs to catch up as a whole

although, this likely means the plumber that used to charge you $65 an hour is now going to be close to $80-$90 as a cascading effect

[Sid Vicious]

lmao at all the people in the thread getting bent over shape over the nominal value of $15. no-one is actually calculating what the actual value is when adjusted for purchasing power parity.

for example look at this pic: min wage of 16 in australia



much like canada, the cost of living in Australia quite high. in addition, these charts were released in 2013. adjusted for parity, imagine how low the value of 15 is in 2019/2020 (relatively speaking)

[MarkyMark]

Originally Posted by Hondaracer

thats why i said the system needs to catch up as a whole

although, this likely means the plumber that used to charge you $65 an hour is now going to be close to $80-$90 as a cascading effect

If minimum wage steadily kept up with inflation over the years it wouldn't seem like such a shock. This is just years of ignoring the problem coming to a head. Prices of everything have been going up even with minimum wage staying low.

[kr4l]

Originally Posted by MarkyMark

Who's to say someone making minimum wage doesn't work hard? From my experience, the more money you make the easier your job actually gets. If working hard only goes by the amount of hours you put in then sure, small business owners work harder than anyone.

Not everyone making minimum wage is a teenager. Some are in their 50s who perhaps lost their job in a dying industry and had no choice because they have no other skills. College wasn't a necessity back in their day. They have a family to support, no time or money to get schooling to find another $20+/h job. I don't automatically assume that the 50 year old lady at McDonald's that gives me my coffee every morning is some loser who just never had any drive to be something else in her life, who knows what happened that lead her to be in that spot.

So should your job pay you $15 an hour cause you're working as hard as the dishwasher who's making $15? You guys putting in the same hours and both hard workers

I reap the benefits not only cause I work harder, but I'm educated, I'm an asset, I make the company more money than the bottom feeder etc etc

I understand your point about the 50 year old and it's a harsh reality. But everyone has problems and at the end of the day, that is not my problem. If my business tanks because of this minimum wage increase, is anyone going to help me??

[westopher]

Well you can go get a 15 dollar an hour job doing nothing.
What's the saying? Adapt or die?
What about the benefits of your business gaining more customers because more people can afford your products? I'm sure as hell looking forward to some young cooks/dishwashers that could never afford to eat my food unless they worked for me, to come in and get to experience it. Even if it's just once every few months. If you think your business will fail because you have to pay your employees more, make your business more desirable.

[inv4zn]

^As previously stated, if your business tanks because of an extra $4 an hour you have to pay an employee, you're doing something wrong to begin with.

[Manic!]

Originally Posted by Armind

Employers should just load more duties/responsibilities for $15. Gotta earn it, right?

$15/hr dishwasher? Fuck that, you're mopping all the floors and cleaning the stoves also.

That's whats going to happen. Places are going to hire less people and make there existing employees work harder.

[kr4l]

Originally Posted by westopher

Well you can go get a 15 dollar an hour job doing nothing.
What's the saying? Adapt or die?
What about the benefits of your business gaining more customers because more people can afford your products? I'm sure as hell looking forward to some young cooks/dishwashers that could never afford to eat my food unless they worked for me, to come in and get to experience it. Even if it's just once every few months. If you think your business will fail because you have to pay your employees more, make your business more desirable.

Honestly, that was exactly what I was thinking. I'd probably make more money working $15 hour than running my business

[MarkyMark]

Originally Posted by Manic!

That's whats going to happen. Places are going to hire less people and make there existing employees work harder.

They already do that. You don't think businesses look at their staff and notice these things? If a company can make one person do two jobs and get rid of someone without a loss in production they will do it whether minimum wage is 5 dollars or 15.

[kr4l]

Originally Posted by inv4zn

^As previously stated, if your business tanks because of an extra $4 an hour you have to pay an employee, you're doing something wrong to begin with.

Please gtfo with that bullshit

Yeah 1 lower employee at an extra $4 an hour ($15) is not a problem

However, I have to boost my leaders to make it fair so they now make $17-18?

Oh btw, I have 10 people working on a single day which can total 60 hours. Right now I'd be paying out around $600 (to make numbers easy) but with the wage increase, I'll be paying out $900. Yeah that extra $300 doesn't hurt me at all.

Please enlighten me more with your business running skills. I'd love to hear them

Edit: forgot to mention that that $300 is labour. If my labour cost is 30%, I have to make an extra $900 in sales to cover it

Also with the increase in produce/materials, rent, insurance, water, power, phone, internet, debit system, advertisement, etc etc, yeah consumer cost is definitely going up. By what do I know, I MUST be doing something wrong

[Hondaracer]

exactly. Your 10 dishwashers now make the same as your cooks? that will work out well.

[MarkyMark]

The problem is people are just seeing the huge jump all at once. It should have gradually been made to $15 over the last 15 years, but instead the wages were pretty much frozen. So yeah, now suddenly your expenses go from $600 to $900, but did you ever think that extra $300 you got away with was due to your employees being underpaid for years?

[BaoTurbo]

Originally Posted by Hondaracer

exactly. Your 10 dishwashers now make the same as your cooks? that will work out well.

Lol thats gonna be a fun kitchen to work in

[kr4l]

Originally Posted by MarkyMark

The problem is people are just seeing the huge jump all at once. It should have gradually been made to $15 over the last 15 years, but instead the wages were pretty much frozen. So yeah, now suddenly your expenses go from $600 to $900, but did you ever think that extra $300 you got away with was due to your employees being underpaid for years?

I guess I reap the benefits of 'underpaying' my staff, but consumers benefited from it the most with the lower prices

And I didn't 'get away' with anything. The more business I have, the higher all my costs go. I don't walk away with much more money in my pocket. And I'm taking all the risks as a business owner. You damn right I should be pocketing more money. How does this not make any sense?

If everyone needed a livable wage in Vancouver, we might as well raise minimum wage to $25/ hour. Oh wait, you still can't afford shit. If you are living in Vancouver and am making minimum wage, you MIGhT want to rethink your plan to live here. It's not my problem that you can't afford it here on a minimum wage. Move to buttfuck nowhere where things cost 1/10 there cause that's all you Can afford

Or should all SMALL business owners do all the babysitting?

[MarkyMark]

That's everyone these days, "it's not my problem". Well it's not your problem until they raise it to $15 and then it is your problem. You must be doing well for yourself, your businesses did you well enough to have an investment property so your margins can't be that razor thin.

Saying even $25 isn't enough isn't an excuse to just keep things as they are. Hell might as well just lower the minimum wage even further if we're not giving a crap at all anymore.

Think of all the people that would be employed if minimum wage was $4!

[kr4l]

Originally Posted by MarkyMark

That's everyone these days, "it's not my problem". Well it's not your problem until they raise it to $15 and then it is your problem. You must be doing well for yourself, your businesses did you well enough to have an investment property so your margins can't be that razor thin.

Saying even $25 isn't enough isn't an excuse to just keep things as they are. Hell might as well just lower the minimum wage even further if we're not giving a crap at all anymore.

Think of all the people that would be employed if minimum wage was $4!

Maybe you should open a small business. I'd like to see what your insight is on this matter.

Just because I'm smart with my money doesn't mean I'm rich. Yes I have an investment property. So what? You don't know nothing about me and the sacrifices I take. Thank god im doing 'well'. Oh btw, I didn't buy my property cash in hand, I have a mortgage to pay on it.

I work smart and hard for what I got. If you do to, I hope you get everything you want someday. If you don't, then damn right I don't give a shit about your 'I can't afford shit on my minimum wage job'

Edit: as I mentioned before, $15 ain't my problem, it's the consumers problem. I just hope your employer raises your wage to match the rising prices of EVERYTHING

[Sid Vicious]

Originally Posted by kr4l

Maybe you should open a small business. I'd like to see what your insight is on this matter.

Just because I'm smart with my money doesn't mean I'm rich. Yes I have an investment property. So what? You don't know nothing about me and the sacrifices I take. Thank god im doing 'well'. Oh btw, I didn't buy my property cash in hand, I have a mortgage to pay on it.

I work smart and hard for what I got. If you do to, I hope you get everything you want someday. If you don't, then damn right I don't give a shit about your 'I can't afford shit on my minimum wage job'

Edit: as I mentioned before, $15 ain't my problem, it's the consumers problem. I just hope your employer raises your wage to match the rising prices of EVERYTHING

empirically, the costs of living have already been increasing while wages have remained stagnant so your argument doesnt really stand up to the statistics here

costs will rise independent of the minimum wage rising, no graph handy but a quick google search will tell you as such.

[MarkyMark]

Originally Posted by kr4l

Maybe you should open a small business. I'd like to see what your insight is on this matter.

Just because I'm smart with my money doesn't mean I'm rich. Yes I have an investment property. So what? You don't know nothing about me and the sacrifices I take. Thank god im doing 'well'. Oh btw, I didn't buy my property cash in hand, I have a mortgage to pay on it.

I work smart and hard for what I got. If you do to, I hope you get everything you want someday. If you don't, then damn right I don't give a shit about your 'I can't afford shit on my minimum wage job'

Edit: as I mentioned before, $15 ain't my problem, it's the consumers problem. I just hope your employer raises your wage to match the rising prices of EVERYTHING

If prices rise I'll adjust my spending habits just like everyone else. This is where you'll see the businesses that matter succeed, and the ones that don't go under.

[kr4l]

Originally Posted by Sid Vicious

empirically, the costs of living have already been increasing while wages have remained stagnant so your argument doesnt really stand up to the statistics here

costs will rise independent of the minimum wage rising, no graph handy but a quick google search will tell you as such.

True, but

What about all the talk about bettering yourself?

If I was making $10/hour in 2005 when things cost x, I sure as hell hope I'm still not making $10/hour in 2015 when things cost xxxxx

By getting an education and a good job, I can then 'afford' to live here.

Edit: after really thinking about it, I think the people who will be getting hit the hardest is middle class, not even the minimum wage lower class.

[Bouncing Bettys]

Low-wage Workers Are Older Than You Think: 88 Percent of Workers Who Would Benefit From a Higher Minimum Wage Are Older Than 20, One Third Are Over 40 | Economic Policy Institute

[kr4l]

Originally Posted by MarkyMark

If prices rise I'll adjust my spending habits just like everyone else. This is where you'll see the businesses that matter succeed, and the ones that don't go under.

But this is what I'm trying to get at. Small businesses generally speaking are the ones that offer the minimum paying 15/hr jobs. If they start closing left and right because everyone needs to adjust there spending accordingly because everything else is going up in price, then unemployment rate goes up

Small businesses rely on minimum wage workers as much as minimum wage workers rely on small businesses. It's hand in hand