Raising the minimum wage?

[Nithavela]

Well, I don’t blame you for that prediction but as a labor organizer I will work until I die to keep that from being the case. We’ve done it before, that’s why we have the 8 hour workday and workplace protections.

Back then you could strike.

How will you strike someone that doesn't need you anymore?

 

[Pommer]

#1 above -- Raise the wage too much and the machines will be taking over.
Simple math -- cheaper.

#2 -- no

M-Bob

Is the nation doomed, then to become Luddite in nature?
What happens if other nations embrace automation and costs of their goods plummet?

Seeking to keep an industrial-style (jobs) market in a post-industrial world will relegate such a country to an economic backwater.

 

[MorkandMindy]

The choice made back in 1982 rather than automate was to stop manufacturing.

The country has enough assets to keep selling those and importing manufactured items from East Asia and to move other working class work such as call centers as well.

The trend has been to reduce or remove entirely working class (blue collar) jobs and to protect the Middle Class from price competition.

What Bernie Sanders and Donald Trump had in common was a belief that we must bring as much as possible of that work back, but that really is a big task that will require not only restructuring the economy but also the way people think.

Automation at the same time will help bring the work back as it will become less sensitive to labor costs.

 

[Speedwell]

The choice made back in 1982 rather than automate was to stop manufacturing.

The country has enough assets to keep selling those and importing manufactured items from East Asia and to move other working class work such as call centers as well.

The trend has been to reduce or remove entirely working class (blue collar) jobs and to protect the Middle Class from price competition.

What Bernie Sanders and Donald Trump had in common was a belief that we must bring as much as possible of that work back, but that really is a big task that will require not only restructuring the economy but also the way people think.

Automation at the same time will help bring the work back as it will become less sensitive to labor costs.

Automation does not bring back factory work.

 

[Sparagmos]

1. The discussion was not about our democratic processes. It was about the nature of Socialism.

2. Obsessed? you've posted as much on this subject as I.

I think you’re confused - the OP is about min wage and automation. I hadn’t mentioned socialism until I asked why you are obsessed with it.

 

[Sparagmos]

Yes and no. We are at a DECISION point now. Do we allow our fellow humans to have a livable wage and a base level of existence? Or do we all agree that other humans are meaningless cogs in the wheel that if we can replace with machines we should do so so we can start ignoring them?

Because the minute we put ENOUGH people out on the streets our problems do NOT get suddenly better. They get much, much, much worse.

Couple that with the Right's seeming goals to eliminate all social safety nets.



No, you will soon love the Executives. They are making the calculations and unless you are in the C-Suite your job will be under threat. All of us.

This is spot on.

 

[Sparagmos]

Back then you could strike.

How will you strike someone that doesn't need you anymore?

Well, the time to strike is now. And it’s happening. More workers went on strike in 2019 than in any year since 1986. And strikes will still be effective for a long time, since automation moves in slowly.

 

[dogs4thewin]

Well, the time to strike is now. And it’s happening. More workers went on strike in 2019 than in any year since 1986. And strikes will still be effective for a long time, since automation moves in slowly.

Depends on the job. If it is a minimum wage job anyway an employer could simply hire someone else the very next day, but if we are talking about teachers and other jobs that require a degree (particularly a particular degree it works better.

 

[Sparagmos]

Depends on the job. If it is a minimum wage job anyway an employer could simply hire someone else the very next day, but if we are talking about teachers and other jobs that require a degree (particularly a particular degree it works better.

Strikes involve all workers walking off the job, and in the current economic climate it would be impossible for the employer to hire and train a whole new crew without great cost and a large loss of revenue. Keep in mind that during the strike the workers are picketing outside asking the public to boycott the business. However, strikes are more effective at larger worksites. The Marriott strikes were a huge success. 8,000 workers around the country went out on strike and won big. There is a shortage of workers in service industries right now so there is no way to replace 200 striking workers. They had to fly in managers and workers from other cities and still the hotels suffered enough to come to the bargaining table with big improvements.