£15 minimum wage

[Beebo]

Some in Labour are looking to push a £15 minimum wage.
Whilst the principle is admirable, the real world effect would be completely crazy with huge wage inflation across the board.
Discuss…….

 

[Archie_tect]

Presumably someone's checked they mean £15 an hour...

 

[FishFright]

Some in Labour are looking to push a £15 minimum wage.
Whilst the principle is admirable, the real world effect would be completely crazy with huge wage inflation across the board.
Discuss…….

Just like it has when it was introduced and at every single rise.

 

[Milkfloat]

£15 is a great target, an immediate jump may not be the best way to do it, but a gradual rise over a couple of years is admirable.

 

[Deleted member 49]

I wonder how many people who say this is a crazy idea actually earn over 15 quid a hour themselves....paying people a living/decent wage sounds good to me.

 

[BoldonLad]

I wonder how many people who say this is a crazy idea actually earn over 15 quid a hour themselves....paying people a living/decent wage sounds good to me.

Agreed

 

[Beebo]

I wonder how many people who say this is a crazy idea actually earn over 15 quid a hour themselves....paying people a living/decent wage sounds good to me.

Any policy has to make sense to the electorate. I have no problem with people earning over £15 an hour, I earn more than that but I didn’t when I started work.
There needs to be some sense checks and a progression.
£15 sounds very nice until you realise that everyone else is going to need a huge pay rises to maintain parity. And companies simply can’t afford that without passing the cost to the customer.
Then everything will go up by 50% and we will have mass inflation.
The Labour Party need policies which will win them votes and I don’t think this is one of them. I might look good on paper but would it work in the real world.

 

[FishFright]

Any policy has to make sense to the electorate. I have no problem with people earning over £15 an hour, I earn more than that but I didn’t when I started work.
There needs to be some sense checks and a progression.
£15 sounds very nice until you realise that everyone else is going to need a huge pay rises to maintain parity. And companies simply can’t afford that without passing the cost to the customer.
Then everything will go up by 50% and we will have mass inflation.
The Labour Party need policies which will win them votes and I don’t think this is one of them. I might look good on paper but would it work in the real world.

Again , the same was said when introduced and with further increases.

 

[BoldonLad]

Any policy has to make sense to the electorate. I have no problem with people earning over £15 an hour, I earn more than that but I didn’t when I started work.
There needs to be some sense checks and a progression.
£15 sounds very nice until you realise that everyone else is going to need a huge pay rises to maintain parity. And companies simply can’t afford that without passing the cost to the customer.
Then everything will go up by 50% and we will have mass inflation.
The Labour Party need policies which will win them votes and I don’t think this is one of them. I might look good on paper but would it work in the real world.

Surely, if everyone gets a rise and prices rise too, don’t we just end up back where we started?, except for those on fixed incomes, who lose out.

 

[mudsticks]

I think it's a lovely idea

I don't earn that much an hour for my self employed farm work .

But I earn more than that for private teaching .

I pay my workers over the minimum wage though 'because they're worth it '

One of the obvious problems is safeguarding the homegrown products of our own industries against cheaper imports.

If we have free market economics, where anything can be imported from anywhere - wages and conditions not accounted for, which are competing against the products of a properly paid workforce here.

Then it's not hard to see where the homegrown output will end up.

Aiui this was one of the reasons that (some factions) of Labour were in favour of brexit.?

They wanted to do away with the 'anti competition' and 'anti protectionism' laws in the EU.

Without properly organised tariffs on imported goods, to uphold those higher wages, then I don't see how British manufacturing or industry , can afford this.

I don't know, I'm not an economist.

But if as a business you have to pay higher wages , you have to pass that on, or suck it up.

Of course if everyone else is earning more, then I guess no problem.

But with the housing market (for example) being such a capitalistic race, then we'll just end up with rises in the cost of living yes?

 

[Deleted member 49]

Any policy has to make sense to the electorate. I have no problem with people earning over £15 an hour, I earn more than that but I didn’t when I started work.
There needs to be some sense checks and a progression.
£15 sounds very nice until you realise that everyone else is going to need a huge pay rises to maintain parity. And companies simply can’t afford that without passing the cost to the customer.
Then everything will go up by 50% and we will have mass inflation.
The Labour Party need policies which will win them votes and I don’t think this is one of them. I might look good on paper but would it work in the real world.

Why does everything have to go up ? What about the fact that everything else other than wages has gone up allready...15 quid a hour might help some of those in work allready pay their bills/rent rather than getting housing benefits ? Remember all that crap about clapping for essential workers,how we're going to value them more.Pay them properly.

 

[mudsticks]

Why does everything have to go up ? What about the fact that everything else other than wages has gone up allready...15 quid a hour might help some of those in work allready pay their bills/rent rather than getting housing benefits ? Remember all that crap about clapping for essential workers,how we're going to value them more.Pay them properly.

I agree.

And stop giving tax breaks for 'buy to let' and so forth.

Housing benefit often just goes straight into the pockets of private landlords

Who clearly have a bit more capital already than they actually need.

Selling off the social housing, on the cheap, as an easy vote winner, but then not ringfencing that money to build more was one of the many 'disasters' of the Thatcher in years.

Imo

 

[newfhouse]

Some in Labour are looking to push a £15 minimum wage.
Whilst the principle is admirable, the real world effect would be completely crazy with huge wage inflation across the board.
Discuss…….

Many people earning the existing minimum wage are also claiming UC and other benefits. Increasing their hourly rate may not leave them much better off (net) but would at least force companies, including those with high turnover but tiny tax bills, to pay their way rather than being state subsidised.

 

[mudsticks]

Many people earning the existing minimum wage are also claiming UC and other benefits. Increasing their hourly rate may not leave them much better off (net) but would at least force companies, including those with high turnover but tiny tax bills, to pay their way rather than being state subsidised.

I agree in principal, but there's also the consumer element.

So many people will buy solely on price say from amo3on who they know are ariisses to their staff.

When for a few more quids, or even often no more quids at all, they could buy from someone with some ethics.

I know I bang on about the cost (price) of food, but even people who could afford to buy better, fair trade or whatever, will go for cheap as anything food.

Then moan about farmers 'despoiling the countryside' or not paying their workers enough, when often they're barely covering the cost of production.

It's got to be worked at from both ends.

 

[cookiemonster]

I wonder how many people who say this is a crazy idea actually earn over 15 quid a hour themselves....paying people a living/decent wage sounds good to me.

And they seem to forget that it will benefit the local economy as people will spend it in their local shops, even if it's the weekly shop.

Also, smaller benefit bill and more tax revenue (VAT/income tax).