asterism
Congress != Progress
Why is there no mention of the real reason for this push to increase the minimum wage?
Richard Berman: Why Unions Want a Higher Minimum Wage - WSJ.com
This isn't about helping the less fortunate, it's about buying support from those already doing pretty well.
Labor contracts are often tied to the law—and it reduces the competition for lower-paying jobs.
Organized labor's instantaneous support for President Obama's recent proposal to hike the minimum wage doesn't make much sense at first glance. The average private-sector union member—at least one who still has a job—earns $22 an hour according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. That's a far cry from the current $7.25 per hour federal minimum wage, or the $9 per hour the president has proposed. Altruistic solidarity with lower-paid workers isn't the reason for organized labor's cheerleading, either.
The real reason is that some unions and their members directly benefit from minimum wage increases—even when nary a union member actually makes the minimum wage.
The Center for Union Facts analyzed collective-bargaining agreements obtained from the Department of Labor's Office of Labor-Management Standards. The data indicate that a number of unions in the service, retail and hospitality industries peg their base-line wages to the minimum wage.
Richard Berman: Why Unions Want a Higher Minimum Wage - WSJ.com
This isn't about helping the less fortunate, it's about buying support from those already doing pretty well.