Posted on 04/19/2016 2:05:42 PM PDT by grundle
The $15 minimum wage hike in California has sent financially troubled UC Berkeley into decision making mode, and "the people who clean buildings, who work in food services or health clinics,” says Todd Stenhouse, will be the ones without a job.
Stenhouse, a spokesman for the American Federation of StateChancellor, also said “There’s a very clear need for those front-line services. But the question is whether there really is a need to hemorrhage resources on executives.”
Nicholas Dirks sent a memo to employees Monday informing them of the job reductions and said they will amount to “a modest reduction of 6 percent of our staff workforce.”
Berkeley employs about 8,500 staffers, from custodians to administrators. Departments on campus were reportedly also told to reduce their budgets by 10 percent in whatever way they wish.
Some staff members in at least one area, residential student services, were told by managers two weeks ago that they should prepare to be laid off.
This may be the sad but true reality that many working people all across California will face in the coming future due to the recent decision to raise the state-wide minimum wage.
The students didn’t vote for this, their gubmint did it to them. And they will continue to vote the same people back into office. Quite the circular firing squad.
The unfortunate thing is that many will be affected who had no say in this and did not support it. So before you laugh too much at the irony, remember that.
It’s quite likely that the profs in the Economics Dept are trying to figure out what the hell just happened.
So unexpected
"You're gonna cost me $15 an hour, and you ain't worth it! Come back when you are."
No, you’re just learning economics. You can pick the wage rate or the number of workers, but not both. Simple supply and demand.
Don't they teach economics at that "school"?
Shouldn’t professors take a pay cut in the name of solidarity and to strike a blow for pay equity?
“The students will demand that the job cuts are made across all occupations, instead of just the “low-level” jobs.”
I can promise “students” from right here at my keyboard hundreds of miles away that administrative employees will be the last to go, teaching staff will lose very few and even more low-level jobs will be lost next.
Perfect, thank you!!
Who will change the diapers of the crybullies on campus?
Evil capitalists exploiting the workers.
I thought the professors and administrators would take a pay cut! /s
I try to do my bit to reduce the low-skill workforce by foregoing fast food and such; it helps my budget while striking back at Obama voters.
I love these stories.
True, rarely are the proper overhead costs considered (employer’s portion of social security, unemployment insurance, work comp insurance, vacation time, sick leave, medical benefits, life insurance, travel insurance, liability insurance, etc...).
In the end, it is likely that at least 4 more if not a greater number than that (in this scenario) would lose their jobs because of a misguided regulation / law.
Consider also that while bottom-rung employees just received a 200% or greater raise, all of the people that were getting demotions or 0 - 2% raises for the last several years who have put in effort and a lot of their own money to better themselves and have to do more with less don’t get an equal raise to offset the extra workload or to bring their wages in line.
If flipping burgers or parking cars is somehow valued at 15 bucks an hour, then what is the value of someone who is an engineer or a technician in comparison to that.
There is no analog here because certain types of work provide certain types of worth. If employing someone to park cars is too costly, there just won’t be a valet, same thing with burger flippers or any other job for that matter. A good number of jobs will either get automated or be relegated to the dustbin of history.
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