That $15 minimum wage? It was to benefit the labor unions. I knew that a lot of the contracts pegged union salaries to minimum wages and increasing the minimum wage was an easy way to increase the union workers salaries without having to enter into bargaining.
This turn of events is downright nasty - from the Los Angeles Times:
L.A. labor leaders seek minimum wage exemption for firms with union workers
Labor leaders, who were among the strongest supporters of the citywide minimum wage increase approved last week by the Los Angeles City Council, are advocating last-minute changes to the law that could create an exemption for companies with unionized workforces.
The push to include an exception to the mandated wage increase for companies that let their employees collectively bargain was the latest unexpected detour as the city nears approval of its landmark legislation to raise the minimum wage to $15 an hour by 2020.
For much of the past eight months, labor activists have argued against special considerations for business owners, such as restaurateurs, who said they would have trouble complying with the mandated pay increase.
But Rusty Hicks, who heads the county Federation of Labor and helps lead the Raise the Wage coalition, said Tuesday night that companies with workers represented by unions should have leeway to negotiate a wage below that mandated by the law.
"With a collective bargaining agreement, a business owner and the employees negotiate an agreement that works for them both. The agreement allows each party to prioritize what is important to them," Hicks said in a statement. "This provision gives the parties the option, the freedom, to negotiate that agreement. And that is a good thing."
A great thing for the union bo$$e$ but not a good thing for their workers and for us general consumers. Great for robot and automation makers - their businesses are going to take off. There is already a machine that can cook burgers to order and can pay for itself in two years. Add ordering kiosks to eliminate wait-staff and you have a well run restaurant with 10% of the usual warm bodies earning a wage.
The fools keep voting for free crap without realizing where the money to pay for it comes from...
Just as a heads up, labor unions represent about 5% of the American work force. No wonder they are scrambling for relevancy in today's market place.
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