Posted on 05/18/2014 5:33:14 AM PDT by Oldeconomybuyer
Swiss voters have rejected a proposal to introduce what would be the highest minimum wage in the world in a referendum, first projections indicate.
Under the plan, employers would have had to pay workers a minimum 22 Swiss francs (about $25; £15; 18 euros) an hour.
Supporters said the move was necessary for people to live a decent life.
But critics argued that it would raise production costs and increase unemployment.
(Excerpt) Read more at bbc.com ...
Totally agree and Gov often becomes the problem. Republicans, or maybe just Conservatives, would do well to get in front of this issue. I don’t want to see the minimum increased, instead, I want to see us offer programs and training for these folks.
The happiest and most successful people I know are in blue collar industries. Skilled labor is hot right now and its going to blow up even further over the next ten years as more people retire. Our cultures focus on fancy degrees from Universities has left us with a massive skills gap. Transitioning job skills can be a massive hurdle, especially with work and family in the balance. There are millions of smart people out there ready and willing to do this work, we just need a solution to get them trained.
A little item I learned the other day. A friend drives trucks for a big oil company and they offer anyone... ANYONE from the janitor to the CEO job training to fill their employment vacancies in skilled labor. How awesome is that! Start off pushing paper, end up making a great salary in electrical, plumbing, welding, HVAC, the list goes on. I love these solutions! It doesn’t come from the Gov.
Paying your workers crap while taking in huge profits used to be shameful. Greed is the biggest obstacle when dealing with capitalism. Foe it to succeed, we have to have strong ethics and morals, something that has evaded humankind throughout history. What are we doing as a culture to address these issues? Anything? Television sure isn’t helping with its pop culture obsession with greed and getting ahead at all costs, aka hustling.
In Canada, the minimum wage is set provincially. Right now in Ontario, the wage just went up from 10.25 to 10.75 (Canadian), and two of the three parties in the present election are promising increases as part of their platforms—the Liberals to 11.00 and the NDP to 12.00.
One of our problems is weather. Construction jobs are usually 2 maybe 3 seasons a year. Can't do much in winter. So if you get a construction job here, you are only working part of the year.
And thanks to a crappy economy, there aren't that many developments going on. Money is tight and it's tough to get financial backing. At one time, with the spring thaw, you saw orange cones, scaffolding and backhoes all over the place. Now, not so much.
And you can forget manufacturing. I live in the rust belt. Steel was king. Those companies are gone and little by little smaller manufacturing is disappearing. Just heard yesterday that a glass plant locally has “suspended operations.” Workers showed up for their shift only to be told the plant was shutting down. I don't expect the operations to continue.
Many of these industries were destroyed by greedy unions and government meddling. Around here, between federal and state over-regulation and burdensome taxation, companies can't survive. I'm of the opinion that unions today are totally useless. They exist today to line the pockets of higher ups and politicians. They don't act in the best interests of the workers. Strong arming employers for ridiculously high wages and idiotic benefits like 13 week vacations only lead employers to ruin. So if SEIU unionizes restaurant workers and gets them $15/hour, what good will it do if the employers go out of business?
“For those who don’t know, a McDonald’s worker in Denmark makes $21.00/hour ( union negotiated ).”
Answers a nagging question that I had from several years ago. The first thing I saw when I landed in Denmark was a McDonald’s ‘special’ consisting of a Quarter Pounder (with cheese), fries, and a drink - for $17. Freaked me out. I suspect the $21.00 extends well past their store workers...and up the line until you get to the farms and bakeries.
So, yes, you will still have McDonald’s, even at $21 per hour - but not nearly as many, and with as few employees as possible. It’s no coincidence that McDonald’s picked Europe as their testing ground for “electronic cashiers”.
For those who don’t know, Switzerland has ZERO minimum wage ( and their workers still make more on average than the USA ).
For those who don’t know, Switzerland has ZERO minimum wage ( and their workers still make more on average than the USA ).
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