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A half-dozen senators friendly to labor have decided to drop a central provision of a bill that would have made it easier to organize workers. Currently, employers can insist on a secret-ballot election, a higher hurdle for unions.
In a free market, demand is always a function of price: the higher the
price, the lower the demand. What may surprise most politicians is that
these rules apply equally to both prices and wages. When employers
evaluate their labor and capital needs, cost is a primary factor. When
the cost of hiring low-skilled workers moves higher, jobs are lost.
Despite this, minimum wage hikes, like the one set to take effect later
this month, are always seen as an act of governmental benevolence.
Nothing could be further from the truth.
When confronted with a clogged drain, most of us will call several
plumbers and hire the one who quotes us the lowest price. If all the
quotes are too high, most of us will grab some Drano and a wrench, and
have at it. Labor markets work the same way. Before bringing on another
worker, an employer must be convinced that the added productivity will
exceed the added cost (this includes not just wages, but all payroll
taxes and other benefits.)
There is never a good time to raise the minimum wage. Just ask the people working in low-skilled jobs that are laid off as a result.
Now is a particularly bad time. Yet the federal minimum wage is scheduled to rise to $7.25 on July 24, the third step of a $2.10 increase enacted in 2007. In more than half the states, the minimum wage already exceeds the current national minimum of $6.55 an hour.
Job offers seeking secretaries for work and intimacy can now be found on almost any Ukrainian recruitment website. Perhaps they should be called "sexretaries". Some savvy, not to mention salacious, entrepreneurs have decided that more tha
On Friday, January 9th 2009 I was laid off. It came as a shock to me. I´m in a position in the company where I didn´t think they could afford to lay me off.
