Tuesday, April 12, 2016

Insanity Squared: Union That Agitated for $15 Minimum Wage Wants to Be Exempt From It



Unions have spent big championing a $15 minimum wage.

So now that California and New York are on their way to a $15 minimum, what is its next union move?

An exemption from the new higher minimum wage.

The Guardian reports:
Los Angeles city council will hear a proposal on Tuesday to exempt union members from a $15 an hour minimum wage that the unions themselves have spent years fighting for.
The proposal for the exemption was first introduced last year, after the Los Angeles city council passed a bill that would see the city’s minimum wage increase to $15 by 2020. After drawing criticism last year, the proposed amendment was put on hold but is now up for consideration once again...
The amendment was originally proposed by Rusty Hicks, executive secretary-treasurer of the Los Angeles County Federation of Labor, AFL-CIO. AFL-CIO is the largest federation of labor unions in the US, with about 12.5 million members. Hicks is also the co-convener of the Campaign to Raise the Wage.
At the time of its passage, Hicks lauded the $15 minimum wage.
“We are one step closer to making history in Los Angeles by adopting a comprehensive minimum wage policy that will change the lives of hundreds of thousands of hard-working Angelenos,” said Hicks. “The city council’s action today creates a path for workers to succeed and gives our economy the boost it needs to grow.”
If an object lesson was needed to point to the fundamental economic fact that a higher minimum wage causes unemployment and that union advocacy of high minimum wage laws is all about blocking non-union members from gaining jobs, this is it.

If it was possible to simply raise minimum wages by law, unions wouldn't be calling for exemptions now. Wages are set by supply and demand. This is economics 101. Union leaders at some level understand this. They also know that a high minimum wage, with a union exemption, blocks non-union workers from competing for union jobs---and keeps the union coffers filled with dues from members who can't get work without the union exemption.

It's crony union activity, surrounded by nonsense Marxist labor slogan camouflage that confuses the workers.

-RW

4 comments:

  1. But a higher minimum wage makes Progressives feel better about themselves and I think we can all agree that is the most important thing. That black teenager who will never get a job and will either go on the dole or on the corner? He's just acceptable collateral damage.

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  2. Amazing! Aren't they ashamed? It's like a fire and brimstone preacher getting caught in a whorehouse.

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    1. No, they aren't. And they think YOU are the "evil" one for championing free market capitalism.

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