Earlier quoted context omitted.
So what is your solution? We can clearly see from this whole article companies will just leave the market if you artificially force pay too high. If they don't have that job at Walmart are they suddenly going to get one that means they don't need government assistance?
I've always thought there should be a tax of some multiple of the dollar value of public assistance employees receive from every employer (so if a worker has multiple jobs and still takes public assistance, each employer would be liable for some multiple of the whole amount). Government should know who is receiving public assistance, but keep it anonymous for the purposes of levying the tax, so employers can't retali…
Uber, Lyft to stop operations in Minneapolis over minimum wage law
91–97 of 97 posts
Re: Uber, Lyft to stop operations in Minneapolis over minimum wage law
#92Earlier quoted context omitted.
I would be even more mad if I was driving for Uber in those cities and overnight the government made the decision for me to remove that as an income option.
That's exactly how Uber wants you to think. That's what they're doing: making it seem like the law is preventing them from operating (they just don't want to pay reasonable wages) so that the people get mad and vote it out, at which point they can simply continue to pay unlivable wages again.
There is a ton of research on this and a lot of things I have read around minimum wages is that it might actually hurt workers more than anything.
Once minimum wage laws come in, a company needs to decide to raise prices or stop doing business. Raising price helps inflation and starts that feedback loop. Stop doing business means now the workers are out of a job which is even worse.
The real solution is to create an environment where companies compete to get workers. This was the case not so long ago after covid where most people didn't want to go back to work and some fast food chains had to raise wages to 25$/h
Re: Uber, Lyft to stop operations in Minneapolis over minimum wage law
#93Earlier quoted context omitted.
Companies pay what people will accept and what they can offer for a job. It has nothing to do with welfare. In fact if there was no welfare do you think people would demand more or less to work? My guess is much less.
This race-to-the-bottom leads to what's essentially slavery. That's why we should not allow companies to pay such abusively low wages.
Re: Uber, Lyft to stop operations in Minneapolis over minimum wage law
#94Earlier quoted context omitted.
That's exactly how Uber wants you to think. That's what they're doing: making it seem like the law is preventing them from operating (they just don't want to pay reasonable wages) so that the people get mad and vote it out, at which point they can simply continue to pay unlivable wages again.
This is backward. The issue is that in an healthy low unemployment environment, more companies would compete for those workers that would be able to negotiate a higher wage. There is a ton of research on this and a lot of things I have read around minimum wages is that it might actually hurt workers more than anything. Once minimum wage laws come in, a company needs to decide to raise prices or stop doing business. R…
How so? Your comment refutes something I didn't say. I said that Uber is blaming the law for their own decision to pull out of that market and that this is an intentional/manipulative decision on their part, which seems not to disagree with your comment.
> The real solution is to create an environment where companies compete to get workers.
This will remain impossible while there are far more workers than jobs (that they can work). Every job I apply to already has hundreds of other applicants. I can't get in anywhere, so I have to apply everywhere. Everyone else also does this. Workers have to compete for jobs & employers routinely fuck you over because they know they have leverage.
While it would sure be nice if jobs had to compete for me instead, I need to live today so I need money today and this "healthy low employment environment" will never exist. I have to take the first job I get an offer from because it might be my only job opportunity for years.
Re: Uber, Lyft to stop operations in Minneapolis over minimum wage law
#95Earlier quoted context omitted.
I've always thought there should be a tax of some multiple of the dollar value of public assistance employees receive from every employer (so if a worker has multiple jobs and still takes public assistance, each employer would be liable for some multiple of the whole amount). Government should know who is receiving public assistance, but keep it anonymous for the purposes of levying the tax, so employers can't retali…
What would this do that a minimum wage wouldn't do?
Re: Uber, Lyft to stop operations in Minneapolis over minimum wage law
#96Earlier quoted context omitted.
I’d be furious if the government told my employer they had to pay me overtime, and my employer closed up shop rather than abide by the same rules as everyone else. This is Uber’s fault, not the government’s fault for enforcing basic employee rights.
So, do you think Minneapolis should pass a second law prohibiting Uber from pulling out of Minneapolis?
Re: Uber, Lyft to stop operations in Minneapolis over minimum wage law
#97Earlier quoted context omitted.
If they can't pay even minimum wage, it was already uneconomical and being subsidized by government welfare.
They offer a service and you can choose to drive for them. This in a lot of cases helps people make extra money or hold them over. But you think it’s better to let the government remove this option? I just can’t get onboard with this thinking. I understand it for W2 jobs but for freelance and pick your own hours it does not make sense.
Of course, the service is voluntary, but for many people the options are "work for pennies or live on the street" -- that's hardly an unforced choice. Why should the state subsidize Uber's profits, given that the state will be the one to support people who end up in poverty?