Unknowns abound regarding the short and long term effects of Seattle’s $15 minimum wage—that reality is perhaps the scariest aspect of the new law. But, despite all the unknowns, discernable consequences do exist. How? The small experiment that has become the City of Sea-Tac. So, without further ado, here are the five known side-effects of the $15 minimum wage as experienced in Sea-Tac.
- Business owners/managers take on more work responsibilities rather than hire new employees.
- Businesses lay off workers, reduce employee hours, or eliminate hiring plans.
- Businesses cut employee benefits.
- A “living-wage surcharge” is added to bills/area parking.
- Prices of goods and services offered by businesses increase.
According to a survey conducted by the Washington Restaurant Association, Seattle based restaurant owners are already bracing for the impact of the $15 minimum wage with plans to raise prices, lay-off workers and reduce employee hours—among other side-effects.
The Washington Restaurant Association (“Full” is “full service restaurant”, “QSR” is quick service restaurant),
Survey respondents were asked an open-ended question, “What are your five most likely business changes if Seattle adopts a $15 minimum wage? Although the question was open-ended, the ten responses below were repeated often enough to equal more than ten of the answers in both the full service and quick service restaurant categories. These results were as follows:
The survey concludes its findings with the “sobering observation” that 80% of “full service respondents said they would either lay off employees, close their business, declare bankruptcy or close a location.”
The cure for liberalism is to give them what they want – good and hard.
The cure for stupidity, is the golden rule. Try it teahadist.
I’m all about the Golden Rule. But please tell me by what moral authority you have to use government coercion to force someone to contribute to your pet charity? Jesus said “Feed the people.” He didn’t say “Use the power of government to steal the product of some people, and give it to other people.” Your stupid minimum wage law has made certain labor contract illegal. As an employer I might be forced to pay an employee a certain minimum, but you can’t force me to hire that employee, which I won’t do if they cannot make more for my company than they cost in wages. Why would I hire an unskilled worker at $15 an hour when I can get someone who can DO something for that price? If I own a restaurant, I will simply fire my dishwashers and hire more cooks. The purpose of a dishwasher was to free up a cook to do the thing he added more value to. But if a dishwasher costs the same as a cook, why not have a cook instead of a dishwasher? So your new law has not helped the dishwasher it was supposed to, it has hurt them. You’ve cut the bottom rungs of the career ladder.
Or maybe you figure now cooks will have to make more, because they’re worth more than a dishwasher, and dishwashers now make $15 an hour. This is going to ripple up through every strata of skill in a company, and the result is that the relatives differences in incomes will remain the same, but now everything will be more expensive. Your low-wage earners will still not be making a living wage, and all you’ve done is taken another loop around the inflation track.
Meanwhile there’s a whole lot of people who WANT those jobs, and would be willing to undercut those who have them and work more cheaply, just to have ANY job. Except you made it illegal for them to compete for jobs in a free market, where they can set the price of their own labor.
So before you lecture me on stupidity, why don’t you extrapolate the effects and unintended consequences of your well-intentioned meddling in the market. In an economic condition where we have huge unemployment, yet harbor 12 million illegal aliens who frequently work at rates below minimum wage, it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to see that it’s your minimum wage laws that are creating this condition.
Been a minimum wage law ALL YOUR LIFE,,, Go F yourself….
In fact, WA has the highest in OUR country, & it’s fine, so Go F yourself….
“Go F yourself….”
Yes, when the argument is lost, the left usually resorts to this sort of behavior.
Way to defend your position with facts and logic.
Yes there has been a minimum wage law all my life. That doesn’t mean that it’s a good thing, or the correct thing for the economy.
Your side NEEDS the poor, so you can demonize the wealthy and thereby garner votes, so you can raise taxes and buy more votes with the newly poor you create with your job-killing policies. Conservatives know that the best way out of poverty is a job. We don’t want people to be poor, because poor people don’t buy the products we create or create things that we want to buy.
But I’m talking to a wall here. Seattle will enjoy their poverty when companies flee in droves, snd the lowest level of income earners are replaced with automated kiosks. I give it ten years and it will look like Detroit, while all the communities around it continue to prosper.
LOL you say, “NO SH*T Sherlock” but you don’t see the ramifications, obviously. Seriously? Are you so stupid you can’t see the problem with this? Don’t bother answering, I already know the answer.
LMAO !
So, NO ANSWER ??? Figured.
How about a job that PAYS, PUTZ !!!!
What a blind partisan AZZ !!!!
Been a minimum wage law ALL YOUR LIFE…. Go F yourself….
In fact, WA has the highest in OUR country, & it’s fine, so Go F yourself….
“I’m all about the Golden Rule.”
No, dumb flock, you’re all about administering GOLDEN SHOWERS to the poor.
In your BS scenario, the illegal gets caught, the boss gets fined, &
the competition gets THEIR business. As for wages adjusting, NO SH*T
Sherlock ?
LMAO !
You want a job that pays? Then come to the table with something that people are willing to pay your for. You think you aren’t making as much as you should? Then go find someone who’s willing to pay you more. Can’t find anyone who’s willing to pay you more? Maybe you aren’t worth as much as you think.
Profit above workers? Tell, me, why would I be in business and hire people if I don’t make a profit? You want charity, go to church. Or better yet, why don’t you quit bitching and open your own business and put your morality to work showing the rest of us how it’s done? Good luck with that.
You’re in a marketplace, and your labor is the product you’re selling. If you aren’t able to sell your product for as much as you want, then you should improve your product to something that people will pay more for. It’s no-loads like you that are either too lazy or too stupid to actually compete who try to force people to pay you more than you’re worth through legislation. It’s not going to work, because you’ll either be rep[laced with a machine, or your bottom level pay grade is going to force everyone else’s pay to increase, which is going to raise the price of everything produced, which is going to increase your cost of living, and the end result is that you’re going to be just as poor, relatively speaking, as you were before, even though you’ll be shelling out a lot more fiat money for the privilege.
It’s because you’re too thick to see the cause and effect of this idiocy that you’re sitting there bitching about working people’s needs, while I’m in business for myself with no employees and doing very, very well.
LMAO !
So, according to bagger reality FAIR LIVING WAGES = CHARITY ???
LMAO ! “… people are willing to pay your for.” Be smart at ALL FOOL !!!
WWJD ?? SPIT ON “humans”, like YOU !!!!
PS- Wanna bet on portfolios, since you NEED to change the topic, little pr!ck ????
Be sure & pick a number you can afford to lose, I have almost a dozen different investment vehicles…
LMFAO !
Fair? A fair wage is what you and your employer agree upon. If you don’t think it’s fair, then go find someone else who’s willing to pay you more. If no one is willing to pay you what you think is “fair,” isn’t that their right? What’s fair about forcing someone to pay more than they’re willing to pay for your pathetic contribution?
The problem with your thinking is that it’s based on a three year old’s egocentric view that the world somehow owes them something, that you have some sort of “right” to work, and some sort of right to demand a certain amount of money for your labor. Well, you have the right to demand whatever you want for your labor, but employers have the right to decline to hire you at that rate. Or is it your position that employers must be forced to hire someone, whether they want to or not? Is that your position? Are you really a closet communist?
And what about the right of the guy behind you who also wants a job, and is willing to work for less than you are because he’s not such a narcissistic little prick like you who thinks the world revolves around you? He’ll undercut you on price to get a chance to work, and he’ll outcompete you in every task you care to mention. Doesn’t he have the right to negotiate a lower wage for himself for the chance to get work?
Face it, pal, you’re just a moron. You can’t see the obvious consequences of your actions, and your default setting is hatred and vitriol. I’ve demonstrated to you the flaws in your thinking and your response is just more hatred and vitriol. You have yet to make a single logical extrapolation of how your policies will not cause unemployment or spiraling inflation. You haven’t explained to me by what logic ANY employer would hire someone if the cost of hiring them is too great. Marinate in it, son, it’ll keep you warm in the winter when your stupid policies make heating costs too much for you to afford.
The only people who hate me are the ones who can’t compete, like you. You’ve got the mental self-image of a three year old and all I hear is a temper tantrum because the world wants you to put on your big-boy pants and start acting like an adult and delivering value for the money you insist on being paid. So scream and shout and throw insults around all you want, at the end of the day, you will have to produce more than you consume, or starve. The market punishes interference from the likes of you. That’s not a political belief, that’s just a fact of life.
Never going to win any elections, calling American workers names or being a coward.
Man offered you a wager, you dodged it, teacake.
No man offerd any wager, a hypocrite offered a wager. You can’t condemn profits in one breath and then brag about your “portfolio” later on. Portfolios are made of companies, and if your portfolio is doing well, that means your comapnies are making profits. It doesn’t mean you have a clue about making payroll or what’s involved in actually producing wealth.
Put your playground “wagers” aside and support your position with something more than ad hominem attacks and hysterics. I’ve asked a number of questions in my support of my position, not one of which has even been addressed, let alone answered.
Apples and oranges, any way. I’m pretty confident that my monthly take-home is better. I worked minimum wage when I was a teenager, and was probably being overpaid at that. I’m all for American workers. I want them to be free to make their own employment contracts and have incentives to provide their full potential in productivity. Any worker who does that will never have to worry about minimum wage laws. I make my living off the ability of the companies who are my clients to maximize their productivity and sales, and I want the workers to be as productive as possible so they can demand the highest wages through the value of their production, not the cowardly muscle of the ballot box.
Too bad for you. We live in a democracy, where people vote, huh ???
As for workers demanding wages, they did in the system we use.
PS- YOU LOSE !!!
LMAO !
No, actually, we live in a Republic. But wither way, you can’t legislate away reality. All the votes and wishful thinking in the world isn’t going to stop the market from reacting to this stupidity, in ways that are exactly contrary to what you intend to accomplish with this foolishness. Your helpful meddling is going to end up hurting the people you’re trying to help specifically and the economy in general. Vote all you want, you may as well repeal the law of gravity while you’re at it. The Romans discovered the same lesson you’re voting for when the plebes discovered they could vote themselves Bread and Circuses from the public treasury. That was the end of the end of the Roman experiment in Democracy. What makes you think you have the secret sauce that the Romans were missing? That was a question. I expect a rational answer, not a bunch of ad hominem attacks.
Poor baby,
You STOLE money, YOU said you didn’t earn… DISMISSED !!!
LMAO !
Chimps. Friggin planet of the apes. Avoid answering that which will demonstrate the bankruptcy of your ideas.
About what I expected.
Btw,
MY QUESTIONS-
So, I have investments, are you saying they don’t pay their workers fairly ?? Will you be offering proof, PUTZ ?
Would you care what a hypocrite’s opinion (your’s) is ? “Romans” ?? COME ON BAGGER !!!
What happens if I fire a gun next to a prisoner’s head ?? Presidential material, huh ???
I expect a rational answer, not a bunch of ad hominem attacks.
I’d be happy to answer, but since it’s your “rules”, you go first.
LMAO !
Dude, you fed the trolls, and I’m sorry for you. For the record, you’re right about pretty much everything. The biggest error on behalf of the overly liberal (read: Occupy movement) is that they construed drastic income equality by way of the uber-wealthy buying laws and lawmakers to mean that there is something intrinsically wrong with the idea of the free market. Talk about a red herring!
Darn shame, I was hopeful there for a few months when OWS started that some well-thought, economically-wise activists would push them in the direction of Represent.Us, or the superliberal that I still respect Lawrence Lessig. All this self-dividing haranguing between “sides” (exclusive and thought-immunized perspectives) is missing the point that we have GOT to change the way we elect our representatives.
Wither way? WOW! What a moron.
Pretty sad, you’ve decided voting is bad and hypocrisy is ALL RIGHT! Did voting become a problem, when a black man won 2x?
Usually, your party uses the “Roman” failure argument to fight “decadence”, but I guess whatever you need it for… it MUST fit, right dipshIt ? Oddly, the experts cite invasions & over reliance on “slave labor”, loser !
Love the “logic”… answer made up questions, because otherwise the hypocrite…has a better argument?
Better cite the rule book you’re using, HYPOCRITE !
So far, you took unearned money, you’re behind in the market, & you’re a racist POS….
Hey pal, REALITY is Seattle has a great minimum wage, SUCK IT tea tw@t.
Where did I condemn profits . again ? Oh right, your “argument” consists of worker / union hating & NOTHING rational….
Sorry loser, Washington is a blue state & you couldn’t afford it here. We don’t care for cheap, mouthy, cowards.
Go F yourself….
“Profit above American workers ? You MAKE ME SICK !!!!”
vs
” I have almost a dozen different investment vehicles..”
Yeah and none of your investment vehicles make a profit, I suppose. Hypocrite. I don’t hate you, but I do find you distasteful, like a smelly used diaper.
Children say things like “My XXXX is bigger than yours!” Yeah, so you’re going to post your “portfolio?” Like you’re Warren Buffet or something, and I’m supposed to believe whatever make believe you invent to post here? Why don'[t you just provide an answer to some of the pertinent questions I’ve presented here? Oh, that’s right, you can’t because nothing you say makes sense.
You’re so thick, you missed my point: I don’t care what your minimum wage is personally. I have no employees and I’m easily clearing well into the mid six figures. But come back and tell me about this success when Seattle is an economic wasteland in a few years. Companies are already leaving, headed for the suiburbs where they can afford to do business. Small business owners will have to close up shop because their margins are already razor thin. You’ve obviously never run a business: Many small business owners wish they could make minimum wage, based on the hours they put in vs. what they take home.
So far this conversation has been like trying to discuss something in a monkey house. I’ve asked a number of questions, none of which have been addressed. Please answer these and show me that you at least tried to think this through instead of shooting from the hip. So far all I’ve heard is the verbal equivalent of throwing poo through your cage bars and other sorts of simian hysterics. These are legitimate questions, and if your position had a shred of validity you would answer them in such a fashion as to illuminate me in the error of my thinking and show me the light. I’m not holding my breath, and I’m getting my umbrella ready for another shower of poo, since you seem to be walking poster children for the Planet of the Apes, and evidence of how the current Chimp-in-chief got into the White House.
Please tell me by what moral authority you have to use government coercion to force someone to contribute to your pet charity?
Why would I hire an unskilled worker at $15 an hour when I can get someone who can DO something for that price?
If a dishwasher costs the same as a cook, why not have a cook instead of a dishwasher?
Why would I be in business and hire people if I don’t make a profit?
What’s fair about forcing someone to pay more than they’re willing to pay for someone’s labor?
Should employers must be forced to hire someone, whether they want to or not?
Does a worker have the right to negotiate a lower wage for himself for the chance to get work?
Why would I answer made up questions, again ? Are you in fairyland, dipstick ???
So far, all you’re offered is blathering & stories, after you proved to be a COMPLETE HYPOCRITE !!!
He wanted a wager, you wanted to be mouthy & pointless, as a “web tough man”.
One of the consequences that is not mentioned is businesses moving out of Seattle/King County. This is something that I see happening.
From a previous post but it fits.n When I was 18 I took a two year course in electronics. based on that education I got a job at the Boeing plant in Renton, WA I received a fair wage based on my education. As I continued my EDUCATION,my income increased. I came from a different world apparently, I never thought of demanding a wage that I did not earn. In regard to rent costs: I promise that when low incomes rise so will the rent.Back to square one!nI also know that when wages increased at Boeing, the Northwest received a raft of people from out of state. Best option, start with firing the liberals on the Seattle City Counsel. They are going to bury Seattle and King Co. I promise.
Problem is it’s being phased it & the folks who need it are getting OUR MONEY, with welfare & public assistance…
Seattle is BRAIN DEAD……and this will also hurt employees that work for the Stadiums which are smack dab in Seattle City Limits. Fewer idiot employees so to get a $12 hot dog (which prices are already huge there will go up higher) and the waits will be longer, and they have already started skimping on the products. The Mariner dog on opening day was AMAZING, it was perfect, the bun was perfect, I loved it and have had one on opening day ever since Safeco has opened, and this year, the hot dogs were not cooked yet and we were already waiting forever just to order. Then the beer they had was WARM out of the tap…..they just seemed to not know WTF they were doing. It was one big Cluster FCUK.
You paid $12 for a hot dog & are calling ANYONE ELSE STOOPID ???
You “guys” said the same stuff, about our old state minimum wage… Still waiting.