£8 an hour minimum wage?

[Hotmale 1954]

Is it me or what?

 

Miliband is pushing for £8 an hour minimum wage.

Sturgeon is pushing for £10.

 

If the minimum wage is increased to, say, £9 an hour, what good will that do for anyone?

 

The big companies will raise their prices, Gas prices will go up, Electricity prices will go up, bus fares will go up, petrol costs will go up, air fares will go up, childcare fees will go up, and all the lower paid will be back where they started.

 

In fact, they'll be worse of than they are now, because if a firms costs go up £1 a man, they'll put their prices up by £3 a man.

 

Hasn't it always been like this, and isn't it the reason some 'employers' are worth £20 billion, and in many parts of the world, a billion people haven't got £1,000 between them?

[melthebell]

i think youve got a wee bit of scaremongering going on there fella, EVERYTHING (bar wages) already goes up, for the slightest excuse.

BUT im not sure ive already seen prices rise in line with and because of minimum wage rises?

 

and the minimum wage isnt just a sheffield thing?

[slh73]

If the minimum wage goes up to a tenner, does that mean everyone else's wages go up proportionally? If, for example, a skilled worker with a trade currently earns 12 quid an hour, will that go up or are we saying that spending years as an apprentice and getting qualifications and experience is not worth bothering with, as you could earn almost as much collecting trolleys in asda.

[El Cid]

If the minimum wage is increased to, say, £9 an hour, what good will that do for anyone?

 

FTSE 100 directors have seen a 21% increase in their multi-million pound earnings. That is good for the directors, the bottom end of the pay scale need to catch up.

 

http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/ftse-100-directors-pay-profligacy-shows-only-top-feeling-uk-economic-recovery-1469803

[iansheff]

i think youve got a wee bit of scaremongering going on there fella, EVERYTHING (bar wages) already goes up, for the slightest excuse.

BUT im not sure ive already seen prices rise in line with and because of minimum wage rises?

 

and the minimum wage isnt just a sheffield thing?

 

E.G. Sky going up around 7% from 1st May

[the_bloke]

If the minimum wage goes up to a tenner, does that mean everyone else's wages go up proportionally? If, for example, a skilled worker with a trade currently earns 12 quid an hour, will that go up or are we saying that spending years as an apprentice and getting qualifications and experience is not worth bothering with, as you could earn almost as much collecting trolleys in asda.

 

It's a logical line of thought.

 

Boss: £10ph

 

Senior: £8ph

 

Junior: £6.50

 

If the NMW rises to £10, all three would be on £10ph. The senior would be annoyed as he's no longer getting monetary recognition of his experience. The boss would be mortified as he's no longer getting recognition of his responsibility.

 

The reality would be the senior asking for £13.50 ph and the boss asking for £15.50ph - and the most vocal people pushing for these type of rises would ironically be the unions.

 

It's nice to say that an increase in NMW would see a fall in the amount of money paid in tax credits (which is what we keep hearing from the left), but it's hardly a large amount:

 

Single parent of one child on current NMW of £6.50, working part time 16 hours per week.

Yearly salary = 6.50 x 16 x 52 = £5408

Does not get any benefits such as Income Support, JSA, Pension credit or Social Security or any other source of income

 

Working tax credit = £3681

 

Changing the wage to £8 ph

Yearly salary = 8 x 16 x x52 = £6656

 

Working tax credit = £3591

 

Source: http://taxcredits.hmrc.gov.uk/Qualify/DIQHousehold.aspx

 

So if that worker was employed in the public sector, the taxpayer has to fund an extra £1248 pa yet only offsets a reduction of £90 pa in working tax credits.

 

If that worker was employed in the private sector, the employer has to find that extra £1248 pa, and the obvious route is to pass that onto the customer.

[Happ Hazzard]

Raising the minimum wage is fine but it just makes business reassess how they do things and assess whether it's worth paying someone £8 or £10 to do a job that can be replaced by technology or moved offshore. Supermarket checkout operators for instance. You'd almost certainly see that role done away with entirely with a £10 NMW.

[El Cid]

 

So if that worker was employed in the public sector, the taxpayer has to fund an extra £1248 pa yet only offsets a reduction of £90 pa in working tax credits.

 

If that worker was employed in the private sector, the employer has to find that extra £1248 pa, and the obvious route is to pass that onto the customer.

 

As I have posted, those at the top are getting big increases, and not because the UK is earning much more, but just because they can.

Before zero inflation, all the media said low/moderate inflation was good, because everyones house increased in value and it was good for savers, it gave pensioners with savings an income.

 

A moderate increase in pay is a good thing.

[The Joker]

Why should my taxes subsidise big businesses that refuse to pay their workers a living wage?

 

If you give low-paid workers more money in their pocket, they'll spend it and keep the economy growing.

 

Yet currently the opposite is happening as we ordinary taxpayers are subsidising big business, who shift the money overseas.

 

Looks like the Greens are getting my vote.

[Mister M]

Why should my taxes subsidise big businesses that refuse to pay their workers a living wage?

If you give low-paid workers more money in their pocket, they'll spend it and keep the economy growing.

 

Yet currently the opposite is happening as we ordinary taxpayers are subsidising big business, who shift the money overseas.

 

Looks like the Greens are getting my vote.

 

Yes but if money goes to those at the top then it will trickle down to the poor