I picked up a catering order for the office last week and it was more than I expected

[Phoebe Loosinhouse]

I get pretty close to the same order on a regular basis.

I said, "This has gone up a bit, hasn't it?"

The cashier said apologectically, "Well minimum wage went up so much they had to raise prices."

I said, "Well I'm glad minimum wage went up and if the prices have to go up, so be it."
(Virginia minimum in 2007 before the Federal increase was $5.85 an Hour!)

One of the greatest problems in our economy is wage stagnancy. Everything else has goneup regularly through plain old inflation : housing, utilities, gas,etc. Somethings have gone up way disproportionately to inflation - healthcare being a major one.

But wages just sit there and get eroded. Businesses have been able to absorb all the other increases: rents, insurance, utilities, executive compensation, etc. etc. but the worker/labor has been the ass that has born the entire burden. That shit has got to stop.

So yes, I was HAPPY to pay a little more if it meant that the workers got more too.

I always like to ask if you had a choice between 2 pairs of shoes - one was $15.00 and was made by an outsourcing child labor exploiting corporation and one pair was 30.00 made in America by a local company by someone earning a decent wage, which pair would you rather purchase?


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_minimum_wages_by_country

[Gman]

1. Hmmm... So she wasn't laid off, she didn't lose her job

contrary to "popular opinion".

[Snotcicles]

4. She was probably running around paying taxes and contributing to the economy. nt

[Gman]

12. Communist

[Zoeisright]

2. Oh please, I'm sure that's what she was told.

If the owner is using that as an excuse, that's pretty sad. The price of FOOD has skyrocketed in the last year.

[Phoebe Loosinhouse]

5. No doubt.

It was very ironic - a poorly paid worker apologizing for the minimum wage going up. And actually it went up some time in 2009.

But that is exactly the reason I was offered for prices going up. Actually, the healthcare for the place probably sky-rocketed this year, but I doubt if most of the workers even get benefits - most places try to keep their workers working below some artificial "part-time" hour marker. 33 hours you're part time, 35 you're full-time. Nothing in between.

[Vinnie From Indy]

6. Amen!

We can all thank Big Oil & Wall Street for the dramtic rise in food prices. Remember the huge spike in gas a year or so ago? That rape and pillage campaign is now reverberating in the economy as higher food prices. Big Oil & Wall Street can thank Congress for allowing them STILL to operate in unregulated, opaque energy markets.

[rd_kent]

3. You make a very valid point, and I think that is the problem.

Consumers want to pay less, period. Very few, even those that spew "buy American" will actually choose the higher priced item if they were side by side on the shelf.

[Fixed_Based_Operator]

7. I bought the American

shoes. Alden 405s.

I am all for Americans making more money, but if minimum wage increased, and you report the price of the goods increased, did the buying power of the minimum wage worker change?

Prices on food items such as bread, milk, and cereal should have fixed prices. Even if it means the government has to subsidize all the stores. It makes no sense to raise the minimum wage, yet still not have any more money.

[Skink]

9. Things like rent of electricty should be subsidized too.

those things are dwarfing pay raises in increases.

[Cleita]

8. I certainly wouldn't mind paying more or if I couldn't afford new, I could

go to the second hand store, however, a lot that is keeping wages low besides outsourcing is much of what you pay is going into corporation profits instead that could go into wages. This is why we need unions. Before there were unions, there were sweat shops. Unions could find the money that could go into wages instead of profits and the companies would still make a profit, just not one on the backs of underpaid labor. I don't know about your caterer but maybe their profit margin above their bottom line is narrow so they needed to raise their prices. In many instances this is not true and there is room in the profit margin to pay a wage increase. I would have to look at their financial statement to tell you for sure.

[xchrom]

10. Recommend

[undeterred]

11. Well, they gave you a reason that pleased you.

What if the real reason was increased shipping costs for ingredients? Some companies are raising their prices and lowering salaries because they can get away with it.