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800 Maynard Ave S, Suite 200, Seattle, WA 98134
800 Maynard Ave S, Suite 200, Seattle, WA 98134
Well guess what, Stranger Editor Whores, poor folks in Seattle would like to make a living wage.
This so called "I Anon" is quite amazing. I'm surprised that The Stranger had the balls to post it, given that it is obviously an "editorial".
Douche bags.
Yadda, yadda.
At most, it's a quarter more on your fucking sandwich / burger / sushi / pint of beer.
Get over it.
We should not keep people poor or force them to depend on welfare just to ensure that more failed business owners stay in business because they can pay artificially low wages.
Stop depending on government largesse, and pull yourself up by your bootstraps you failure.
Either way, you're an ass.
Excellent question, like when Boeing wanted a plant built for them "at no cost." Wow. Entitled much?
Workers of Microsoft (like Mr. Sawant), and Medical Doctors will reap much benefit of scummy little people put into rightful place, Portland!
You watch, Seattle much better as new workers socialist paradise! Many more $30 hamburger options! Many more opportunities for scummy poor people to get the fuck out!
Seattle be wonderful paradise! We get poor all gone, you see! All one class, rich people! Is much better!
Now pass the COCAINE amd MALT LIQUOR....
https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2014/06…
"While Sawant and 15Now are lauding this as a victory of historic proportions, actual socialists say this isn't going to benefit workers (and they question Sawant's sincerity to boot)."
https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2014/06…
You'd rather keep the living wage that helps corps like Walmart exploit people living below the poverty line? I've got friends that are working full time, nearly starving, (thank god for food banks) and barely able to make bus fares, much less save up for school. Too bad they can't make a decent wage- they could have saved up enough to eat at your restaurant.
You know, Anonymous, if your burgers (or whatever it is you sell) are of such low quality that you can't bother to raise the price just a little bit to cover the cost of paying your employees the wages they deserve, then what exactly are you doing in the restaurant business in the first place? More people go into business for themselves starting restaurants than any other business, and more restaurants end up failing than any other business. I fully buy that you've worked your ass off making your restaurant work--welcome to owning and managing a business. I also fully expect that if you have the quality goods to be a worthy restaurant then your customers will be able to afford the increase in quality, especially once your customers actually have money to spend on your food because of the very law you just threw a conniption fit over.
Hell, you might even MAKE money, but your hysterics and your pissing blood about the fact that you have to justly compensate your employees hints that you might not deserve to.
$5 burger sold 5 times in one hour = $25
$25 burger sold 5 times in one hour = $125
That is $100 more an hour. I get that that money isn't pure profit, I'm not an idiot. But that is 100 more dollars in this equation when the only thing changing is the employee cost. How many fucking employees do you have to justify that kind of inflation?
If a business owner inflated their prices that much then they are simply vultures trying to take advantage of the wage increase. To help with the math: the minimum wage is going to be 1.6 times higher. So just make your crap burgers 1.6 times more expensive, not 5 times. Maybe that's why your business is failing, because you don't know 2nd grade math. Just get one of your underpaid employees to help you figure it out.
Typical lefty, it's not theft if WE do it.
Hypocrite.
Sure, OK...
As to this I, Anon, if this person who supposedly owns a small restaurant, can't pay his/her employees a living wage, that he/she has no business running a restaurant.
And as far as tips being calculated into the "wage", tips are a gratuity,/b> for good service, not part of the wage the employer pays.
Let me give you a tip, that might let you pay yourself.
Wages are considered a business expense, and are tax-deductible.
Wages are still a cost, often the highest single cost to employers. And wages themselves incur a litany of additional tax burdens on the owner, who pays half of every employee's federal taxes. Look at all the crap that comes out of your paycheck. That's only half of the taxes- your employers is paying the other half.
So the fact that wages are tax deductible doesn't mean the employer gets to subtract what he paid out in wages from his tax bill. It means that he gets a *fraction* of that amount in tax reduction.
It's kind of like me raising your rent by $500 a month, then handing you a $20 bill and pretending I've negated your impact.
@34,
If the small business owner is genuinely not earning any profit, he/she is already paying very little to the feds, and likely nothing in terms of business taxes. But our state B&O tax is on gross receipts, which means Anon can't deduct anything from that.
@35,
Employers pay the other half of an employee's payroll tax, 6.25 percent for Social Security and 1.45 percent for Medicare, not the employee's federal income tax, you lying dumbass.
If this doesn't work, I give up.
First is paying yourself
(sorry you missed this as you would have been able to pay rent, bills, eat etc.instead of being homeless and food-less for the past two years but then that's kind of like being payed the OLD minimum wage so...).
Next is that 50 to 70 percent of new businesses fail within the first 18 months.
(seems you have crossed that hurdle so take hart)
Last is that most businesses do not become profitable(which is probably what you meant by not paying yourself...dumbass,how did you eat and pay rent and bills for two years if you didn't pay yourself? Food stamps and or other forms of public welfare??? (but then again that's kind of like being payed the OLD minimum wage, is it not?!?!)for the first 3 – 5 years. That’s the average so suck it up dumbass.
The restaurant business may be the toughest, most competitive business. As such, we should expect many restaurants to go under, especially if the owners don't know what they are doing. If you can't run a restaurant AND pay your workers a living wage, get out of the business and let the experts handle things.
As for restaurant food getting more expensive, first of all, $25 a hamburger is an exaggeration for reasons others already pointed out. The math doesn't add up. Maybe a high quality burger would go for $8, and yes there are people willing to pay that. Hell, for a 90% lean burger with veggies piled high and no pink slime, I would pay $12. You have to remember that people really concerned about price buy their food from supermarkets. Going out to eat is a luxury and yes, for good service and quality people who can afford to go out to eat in the first place will be willing to pay more than if they were cooking it at home....IF you can give the quality and service they are looking for. And for good service, you really need happy, loyal employees. Employees are not going to be happy if they have to apply for food stamps because you are too cheap.
Signed,
Self employed since 1996
Employers who pay sub-living wages steal from tax payers.
My other point was that people who aren't making enough have to do something to lift themselves up. Why is that such a terrible concept? You shouldn't wait for the government to come and save you - save yourself!
#58, I would seriously hate to be as cynical as you are. People lifting themselves up is what built this nation. We can't have a nation where only some people can support themselves, and the rest are on the government dole. And yes, even people who have come from difficult upbringings can do it. Let's stop using excuses as to why we can't do things, and use that energy to find a way. I agree that there are people who need help. But the vast majority who complain that they're not getting paid enough are the ones who aren't doing enough.
You know, since I have a bachelor's degree, military service, multiple qualifications, and I work 40-50 hours a week yet still barely make enough to pay for anything more than rent and food. I've got resumés out: no one is hiring in my areas of expertise.
So am I lazy, stupid, or just an idle complainer?
The 1960s were an era of massive business growth, and yet the average low-skilled worker could still afford to raise a family. Why? Because the minimum wage was commensurate with costs of living. Most businesses paid their employees more than minimum wage and gave them benefits to boot, because they saw labor as an investment: not as an annoying cost to be cut.
The restaurant and hospitality industries keep crying that this is going to force them out of business due to increased costs. Nothing is being mentioned about an increase on the income side. Clearly no one bothered to pay attention in economics class.
Check it out: your industry is a luxury. It is only patronized by those with disposable income. More disposable income for lower income workers means more income being spent on... wait for it... you guessed it! Hospitality and restaurants. Your volume will increase. More volume means more profit. Less crying more reading.
Will this be the end of the world? No. But it sure as hell will create a lot of unemployable people. If businesses are forced to only pay top dollar, they are going to hire only top-dollar employees. When that happens, a lot of people will find a job in Seattle hard to come by, and it will be the very poor, ex-felons and others who suffer the most.
And I have to take it for granted that when you said no one was paying attention in economics class, you were including yourself. How can you say that arbitrarily raising the minimum wage is going to help people when it's really going to lock people out of employment? If your labor isn't worth $15/hour, who is going to hire you?
As for your just being able to get by, I don't think you're lazy, stupid, or an idle complainer. Maybe you just need to try something different. It's like the old saying goes, if you find you've dug yourself into a hole, the first thing to do is to stop digging.
No, my main complaint is that recent immigrants, most of whom don't speak fluent English, will be priced out of the job market.
I actually believe ex-felons, immigrants, and drop outs deserve jobs too, even if you have to be "inconvenienced" by what may or may not be less than stellar customer service.
again, i can't say this any more eloquently- fuck. you.
Er. Do you realize whose work put money in the business man's wallet ?
Customers give their money for food. Food prepared by workers. So those workers did the work which brought the customers' money into the business man's wallet.
If he puts all of that money, that was earned by someone else's work, into his own pocket : he's a thief. An Ayn Rand's kind of thief, but a thief nonetheless.