minimum wage

When human labor is replaced by technology, what will humans do for work?

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State senator John Kavanagh recently demonstrated his lack of concern for low wage workers in a comment, “And if you want to see ‘innovation,’ raise the minimum wage for fast food workers to $15 an hour and watch robots replace many of those workers.”

The GOP has always been the party of low wages, reflecting the views of its corporate masters, who would eliminate human labor entirely if possible, just as Sen. Kavanagh cavalierly suggests.

The Washington Post reports, Robot-run restaurants? Pay hikes may spur automation:

Robot-I-RobotThe [fast food] industry could be ready for another jolt as a ballot initiative to raise the minimum wage to $15 an hour nears in the District and as other campaigns to boost wages gain traction around the country. About 30 percent of the restaurant industry’s costs come from salaries, so burger-flipping robots — or at least super-fast ovens that expedite the process — become that much more cost-competitive if the current federal minimum wage of $7.25 an hour is doubled.

“The problem with the ­minimum-wage offensive is that it throws the accounting of the restaurant industry totally upside down,” said Harold Miller, vice president of franchise development for Persona Pizzeria, who also consults for other chains. “My position is: Pay your people properly, keep them longer, treat them right, and robots are going to be helpful in doing that, because it will help the restaurateur survive.”

Many chains are already at work looking for ingenious ways to take humans out of the picture, threatening workers in an industry that employs 2.4 million wait staffers, nearly 3 million cooks and food preparers and many of the nation’s 3.3 million cashiers.

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A huge win for the Flagstaff Living Wage Coalition

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RaiseTheWageThis may be a first in Arizona.

Our lawless Tea-Publican Arizona legislature has conceded their unconstitutional lawlessness in court and agreed to a stipulated judgment, even before filing an answer, and pissing away any more of your tax dollars on yet another frivolous defense of their lawless acts. Don’t expect this to become a trend.

The Arizona Daily Sun reports, Flagstaff coalition claims victory in living wage battle with state:

The Flagstaff Living Wage Coalition said late Monday it had reached an agreement with the attorney general’s office that would nullify a 2013 state law taking away the right of communities to set minimum wages.
A spokesperson for Attorney General Mark Brnovich confirmed that the parties had filed a stipulated judgment and are waiting for a signature by the judge in the case.

According to a statement by the coalition, the judgment declares that A.R.S. § 23-204, which was passed by the Legislature in 2013, and prohibits counties, cities and towns from regulating employee compensation and benefits, violates the Voter Protection Act. In 2006, Arizona voters passed Proposition 202, which gave local governments the ability to regulate compensation and benefits. This week’s judgment will clarify that Legislature cannot override voter initiatives.

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‘Rewriting the Rules: An Agenda for Growth and Shared Prosperity,’ and the ‘Progressive Agenda to Combat Income Inequality’

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Earlier today, a panel discussion at a Roosevelt Institute event with economist Joseph Stiglitz, Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio unveiled the new report by Stiglitz, “Rewriting the Rules: An Agenda for Growth and Shared Prosperity.” Check out RewritetheRules.org to find out more. Download of the Full Report (.pdf).

Rewriting

Bill de Blasio and Elizabeth Warren Talk Income Inequality:

Who said it is about income inequality, Mayor Bill de Blasio or Senator Elizabeth Warren?

“This doesn’t just come from Republicans. A lot of Democrats seem to have floated along with the idea that the economic growth is in direct opposition to strengthening the well-being of America’s families, and that we have to choose economic growth or our families. That claim is flatly wrong.”

The answer is Ms. Warren, the progressive senator from Massachusetts who some are hoping will decide to run for president as an alternative to a Hillary Clinton bid likely to be funded by donors from the banks Ms. Warren often rails against.

But it could just as well been Mr. de Blasio, who spoke just moments after Ms. Warren at the National Press Club this morning during an event called Rewriting the Rules of the American Economy, which carried with it the tagline “An agenda for growth and shared prosperity.” In recent months, as he’s traveled to the Midwest and now Washington in an effort to urge a focus on income inequality in the 2016 presidential race, Mr. de Blasio too has expressed the idea that even some within his party have not given the issue the attention it deserves.

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Congressional Democrats file bill to raise the minimum wage

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Democrats in Congress on Thursday filed a bill to raise the minimum wage to $12 hour by 2020. This does not seem particularly ambitious to me, but of course, Tea-Publicans were apoplectic: “over our dead bodies!” Top Dems line up behind $12 minimum wage :

RaiseTheWageThe Obama administration and congressional Democrats are making a new push to raise the minimum wage to $12 an hour by 2020.

Top Democrats are getting behind the Raise the Wage Act introduced Thursday, which they say would increase the federal minimum wage for nearly 38 million workers.

The push goes beyond a previous proposal to lift the wage to $10.10 over three years. That effort, championed by then-Sen. Tom Harkin (D-Iowa) in the last Congress, stalled amid fierce opposition from Republicans.

But Democrats say they are resolved to keep pressing for an increase, even now that the GOP controls both chambers of Congress.

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Fast Food Workers in Tucson, Phoenix, & Nationwide to Strike on Sept 4

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minimum wage“All across the country right now there’s a national movement going on made up of fast-food workers organizing to lift wages so they can provide for their families with pride and dignity. There is no denying a simple truth. America deserves a raise. Give America a raise. …You know what, if I were looking for a job that lets me build some security for my family, I’d join a union. If I were busting my butt in the service industry and wanted an honest day’s pay for an honest day’s work, I’d join a union…I’d want a union looking out for me.” — President Obama, Sept 1, 2014, Milwaukee, WI

Tomorrow, Thursday, September 4, fast food workers across the nation and right here at home will strike for higher wages and the right to organize.

From Service Employees Interntional Union (SEIU)…

TUCSON FAST-FOOD WORKERS TO STRIKE FOR FIRST TIME AS FIGHT FOR $15 AND UNION RIGHTS SPREADS

Local McDonald’s, Burger King, Jack in the Box Workers Among Those in 150+ Cities Expected To Walk Off Their Jobs

TUCSON – Coming off a convention at which they vowed to do “whatever it takes” to win $15 and the right to form a union, Tucson fast-food workers will walk off their jobs Thursday  for the first time as their movement intensifies and continues to spread.

A day after President Obama highlighted their campaign in a Labor Day speech, workers said they will strike at Tucson’s major fast-food restaurants, including McDonald’s, Burger King, and Jack in the Box. Clergy, elected officials and community supporters, including Representative Raúl Grijalva, will join fast-food workers on the strike lines.

WHO: Workers at Burger King, McDonald’s and Jack in the Box; Representative Raúl Grijalva, Co-chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus; Rep. Bruce Wheeler; Sen. Olivia Cajero Bedford; Former Sen. Paula Aboud; Pima County Supervisor Richard Elías

WHAT: Fast-Food Worker Strike

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