Should the Federal Government eliminate the Minimum Wage Law?
By bobmnu
@bobmnu (8157)
United States
May 11, 2010 1:51pm CST
I feel that the Minimum Wage should be eliminated because it causes more unemployment and increases the wages of skilled workers at the expense of the unskilled. A friend of mine was a trucker many years ago and told me that he used to hire three men to help unload his truck. It took three men 2 hours each to unload his truck and he paid them $5.00 per hour for a total of $30.00. Or he could hire a man with a fork lift who charges $40 per hour and it will take him one hour. The minimum wage is increased to $7.00 per hour and the Fork lift drives increases his rate to $50 per hour. My friend hired the Fork Lift Driver and put 3 people out of work.
1 person likes this
9 responses
@dlr297 (5409)
• United States
11 May 10
Why should the unskilled worker be left with nothing, and not able to earn a good living....and if everyone became skilled who would be left to do these jobs...... Why should these people be made into slaves just because they have no skills to get better jobs.....These types of jobs need to be done by someone...or a lot of the businesses that use them would close. I believe their wages should not be as high as a skilled worker, but i also believe that they should also be able to make a living off these jobs, be able to pay their bills, and feed their families. and at $7.00 a hour for a forty hour a week job, after taxes and everything else that comes out of our checks leaves them with less than 300.00 a week to live on. and that is not right. and if the law is taken away what will happen to them. If their wages get any lower what is going to keep them off public assistance and the skilled worker paying for them with our tax dollars........
1 person likes this
@thegreatdebater (7316)
• United States
12 May 10
Laglen, using your logic (which I do agree with your conclusion) wouldn't we need more illegal immigrants to do all of the jobs that the college educated are over qualified for? Not bashing, just pointing something out.
@TheMetallion (1834)
• United States
11 May 10
$5 an hour is $10,000 a year for a 40-hour work week, $17,500 for a 50-hour work week at time and a half for overtime. That's between a third and a half of the median income where you live. Give it a try for a year, let us know how you make out, and then we can see if it's a good idea to let employers pay people that little; or if it's better that people not get trapped into jobs they can't live on anyway.
By the bye, your friend is terrible at math: he lost $8 on the deal paying $50 for the fork lift instead of $42 for the three workers.
@grammasnook (1871)
• United States
12 May 10
With being a truck driver and delivering to companies, it makes sense for him to pay the extra 8 dollars and gain the two hours. Perhaps to have more time with the family or perhaps to have more time to complete another job for that day hence more money earned. You must know all the details for his decision.
@TheMetallion (1834)
• United States
12 May 10
If the truck driver hired the forklift guy to save time, then the anecdote has nothing whatsoever to do with minimum wage. It only makes sense for the OP to have brought it up if it was about which cost less.
@Destiny007 (5805)
• United States
12 May 10
Yes. The minimum wage was intended to be nothing more than an entry level training wage.
The only people who ever benefited were new hires and burger-flippers.
When the minimum wage goes up, the prices of goods and services go up to mach, which means the cost of living increases... so nothing is really gained... unless of course you count getting bumped into a higher tax bracket as a result.
@EvanHunter (4026)
• United States
12 May 10
No absolutely not. People want to do something to help the job situation repeal NAFTA like President Obama promised he would and has backed out of. In my opinion this is only forcing us to compete with those countries that pay slave labor, and not one price of anything has dropped from corporations who use them.
@bestboy19 (5478)
• United States
12 May 10
There was a discussion the other day about illegal immigrants. The poster mentioned that employers hire illegals because they don't want to pay minimum wage. I have also heard, as the minimum wage goes up, hiring goes down. So we're overrun with illegals doing unskilled jobs and costing the tax payers millions and not paying taxes and sending most of their earnings to Mexico so little of it is stimulating our economy, and/or we have employers not hiring at all. Not only should the minimum wage law be eliminated, the federal government shouldn't have butted in to what a business pays its employees in the first place. Maybe if they hadn't butted in, things wouldn't be costing so much as they do.
@mrseanbond (86)
•
11 May 10
No i dont think so the uk minuimum wage law has helped alot of people out of poverty but yes some busineesses have gone under because of it but maybe these where the ones running far to close to the margins in the first place. In the uk i also worry as i here people discussing a minimum wage for night workers this would absoluty destroy the security industry as companys have guards cause its a hell of a lot cheaper than the cost of building insurance without one if you incase night wages to some of the figures ive heard being banded around ill be out of a job and so will alot of others
@HADDOWZ (1469)
•
11 May 10
I'm not very good with figures but I dont think this works out right. 3 people 2 hours $5 an hour $30 total, yes.. Mister forklift $40 for an hour, yes..
3 people 2 hours $7 an hour $42 total ? yes. Mister forklift now $50 for an hour. It's still cheaper to employ the 3 people, only difference is the trucker gets his cargo unloaded in 1 hour.
I must be missing something, never was very good at mathematics, sorry.
Have a productive full day.
@spalladino (17891)
• United States
11 May 10
Nope, I don't believe that it should be eliminated. As someone has already posted, if you're earning minimum wage, you're barely getting by as it is. As a group, these workers are the most taken advantage of and the least able to do anything about poor treatment in the workplace. Your friend may be paying more to have his truck unloaded but have his earnings remained stagnant?
@dlr297 (5409)
• United States
11 May 10
you are just looking at one side of the issue, even with the minimum wage at $7.00 a hour the people that are working for this can barley make a living as it is. and if they take the law away what is going to happen to the wages for these people....Everyone should be able to make a fair amount of money to live on. I think that the minimum wage should be a lot higher so people that are working these types of jobs can at least feed their families, and pay their bills, and have a good life. Just like us lucky ones that are skilled and can get better jobs.
