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Amazon raises minimum wage to $15 for all US employees

cnbc.com

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Re: Amazon raises minimum wage to $15 for all US employees

#421

Post by fipple »

swebs wrote: post #17

>In addition, the company also pledges its public policy team will lobby for an increase to the federal minimum wage from $7.25 — it doesn’t identify a specific wage that it’s targeting, but instead says, “We believe $7.25 is too low. We would look to Congress to decide the parameters of a new, higher federal minimum wage.” I'm going to take a wild guess and assume it will be $15/hour. That way they'll get to look pr…

Amazon is good at getting ahead of the political winds. They started collecting sales tax just before it would have become a legal requirement.

Re: Amazon raises minimum wage to $15 for all US employees

#422

Post by dv_dt »

pkulak wrote: post #218
swebs wrote: post #17

>In addition, the company also pledges its public policy team will lobby for an increase to the federal minimum wage from $7.25 — it doesn’t identify a specific wage that it’s targeting, but instead says, “We believe $7.25 is too low. We would look to Congress to decide the parameters of a new, higher federal minimum wage.” I'm going to take a wild guess and assume it will be $15/hour. That way they'll get to look pr…

Wow, does the top comment always have to be cynical? This is exactly what everyone wanted Amazon to do. Maybe it's time to suck it up and give praise where praise is due? There are also benefits to paying more salary than your competitors (no hiring shortages, best employees, low turnover, etc), so I'm not going to blindly accept that it's now in Amazon's interest to drag the rest of the industry along with them. But…

I think we should praise this move by Amazon, but also realize they're probably the world leader in warehouse robotics. If they raise wages, and push for wage increases now, there is a short term effect of reduced profits for Amazon, but it also puts pressure on raising costs for competitors while Amazon is on a path to being much better insulated from those costs. It also gives them better community relations basis when siting or expanding locations.

Is this cynical, or good move on the part of Amazon? A little of both. It is a smart long-term profit move for Amazon. But I would also say that overall would be great to spark a trend where companies compete via both smart capital investments to raise productivity, and being willing the share the benefit of rising productivity to employees as a tool against competitors.

Re: Amazon raises minimum wage to $15 for all US employees

#423

Post by briandear »

WillPostForFood wrote: post #335
IgorPartola wrote: post #277

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Wait, why is it bad that Amazon is lobbying for this? Would you say it was bad if, say, ACLU was lobbying for a $15 minimum wage? My guess is that from Amazon's point of view, they are winning political points by not just raising their own minimum wage to $15, they are also using their standing in the industry to increase quality of life for non-Amazon minimum wage workers. If they succeed, I am happy to grant them t…

By lobbying for the $15 minimum wage they are working to make sure that their competitors don’t retain any competitive advantage on wages. So now the brick and mortar shop that is barely in business because of competition with Amazon is going to get hit with a big bump in wage costs. They either will raise prices, or go out of business, both scenarios benefit Amazon.

Precisely this. A small shop in Mobile, Alabama being forced to pay the same minimum wage as some company in Santa Clara County is ridiculous. A rented closet in the Bay Area costs more than a house payment in Mobile. Also, the tax burden on $15 in Alabama is far lower than the tax burden on someone in California.

Want to give low wage people an actual pay raise? Cut federal payroll taxes since those affect workers equally as they are percentage based.

A $10 wage in Alabama is far more valuable than a $15 wage in Sunnyvale. And conversely, a $15 minimum in Alabama would be more catastrophic to a business than the same minimum in Seattle.

Re: Amazon raises minimum wage to $15 for all US employees

#425

Post by diminoten »

prolikewh0a wrote: post #380
irishcoffee wrote: post #362

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> If these people just "move jobs", they're out a paycheck for weeks and may lose their car, their home, not be able to eat, etc. This gets floated around a lot. At least in the US I can't imagine a scenario where not paying bills for 1 or 2 months results in homelessness and a repo'd car. Being both a homeowner and a landlord, I could not pay my mortgage for a year before legal processes kick in, and if my tenants d…

>This gets floated around a lot. At least in the US I can't imagine a scenario where not paying bills for 1 or 2 months results in homelessness and a repo'd car. >Being both a homeowner and a landlord You're in a totally different economic situation, and probably have little to no economic struggles at all. I'll call this out of touch as well.

A lot of the problems encountered in poverty are due to ignorance; of how things work, where to get help, where the line is, it actually makes a lot of sense that low-wage workers think that being without a job for 1 to 2 months is a death sentence.

The real problem though is that "just get a new job" may or may not be possible, but if it is possible, the mechanics of how to do that are not available to low-wage workers. It doesn't really matter that there are plenty of jobs out there if the people who could work at them are not aware they exist, or how to apply for them.

Education, as per usual, ends up being a barrier.

Re: Amazon raises minimum wage to $15 for all US employees

#426

Post by NegativeLatency »

pkulak wrote: post #286
L_Rahman wrote: post #274

Earlier quoted context omitted.

When the topic in question is how one of the most powerful companies on Earth chooses to use its power we should strive to always be this cynical. Skepticism of concentrated power is the ur-American political belief. We seem to have forgotten that lately.

If you're willing to shame a company for behavior you don't like, I think you should be prepared to give praise when they do exactly what you just asked for. When you constantly move the goal posts just so that you never have to abandon your righteous anger for even one day, what kind of incentive does that give companies to change their behavior?

Corporations are not people, and do not "deserve" praise. They exist to enrich their shareholders.

Re: Amazon raises minimum wage to $15 for all US employees

#427

Post by toomuchtodo »

theandrewbailey wrote: post #383
toomuchtodo wrote: post #369

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Dollar General and other national chain drive thru eateries are substantially profitable (profits in the billions of dollars, DG margins are ~%30). The odds of Dollar General, McDonalds, and company and closing up in rural America is so close to zero, for our purposes we can round down to zero. They might raise prices a bit, and be slightly less profitable to shareholders, but they won't close up shop.

I was thinking more along the lines of a local mom and pop drive thru where people get their daily 6 pack and lottery ticket than a McDonalds.

Then mom and pop will need to work their store, instead of underpaying employees.

Re: Amazon raises minimum wage to $15 for all US employees

#428

Post by toomuchtodo »

refurb wrote: post #406
toomuchtodo wrote: post #287

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's putting a positive spin on paying people a living wage. Unemployment goes up, support the unemployed with safety nets and raising taxes. The problem is not the cost; the money exists in the economic system, clearly. It's simply an allocation issue. But pessimists can keep carrying on with "the sky is falling" while progressive economic policies continue to march forward, bringing the US to parity with the living…

while progressive economic policies continue to march forward March forward? If anything there has been a dismantling of "progressive" economic policies over the last few decades. To the benefit of the economy.

You must admit, this is a significant win for Sanders (Disney first, now Amazon). I agree with you that progressive policies have been dismantled over the last few decades, but would argue that the electorate is engaged enough now to claw back those losses (majority of Americans support universal healthcare now, for example).

My point was this is not the last win for Sanders and those who align with his progressive policies. Efforts will continue to drive up the minimum wage in all 50 states.

Re: Amazon raises minimum wage to $15 for all US employees

#429

Post by eeZah7Ux »

jrm5100 wrote: post #53
School-Cotton wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Did Amazon actually pay any worse or have worse working conditions than any other unskilled warehouse job? If so, why didn’t the employees change jobs? If not, why is so much criticism directed at Amazon specifically, rather than at capitalism itself?

> If so, why didn’t the employees change jobs? Monosopy.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monopsony

...why the downvotes?

Re: Amazon raises minimum wage to $15 for all US employees

#430

Post by ntsplnkv2 »

mc32 wrote: post #321
pkulak wrote: post #218

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Wow, does the top comment always have to be cynical? This is exactly what everyone wanted Amazon to do. Maybe it's time to suck it up and give praise where praise is due? There are also benefits to paying more salary than your competitors (no hiring shortages, best employees, low turnover, etc), so I'm not going to blindly accept that it's now in Amazon's interest to drag the rest of the industry along with them. But…

You can both be right. It’s great that they made this move after much criticism, prodding and foot dragging, but... this reaction can also be calculated so that not only they have to carry this load alone but spread it to competitors. In other words AMZN is willing to do it, but they don’t want to be the only ones “burdened” unlike Costco who did it out of concern and perhaps principle (and competitive advantage by e…

Seems like a ridiculous risk to take given it is reliant on the US government that is unequivocally pro-business right now and will be until at least 2020.
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