[LapsangGuzzler]

> nor do I agree with the minimum wage, which is a similar overstep from the government into employer-employee relationships.

Read up on the history of the minimum wage in the US. It was demanded by striking workers who were tired of working in sweatshops for terrible pay.[0]

By the way, the 40-hour workweek also came about due to worker strikes. Would you prefer we all go back to working 7 days a week?

0: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Minimum_wage_in_the_United_S...

[dadjoker]

And it demonstrably costs jobs and shuts down businesses so there are fewer jobs.

Just because you don't like basic supply and demand market forces doesn't mean you can just wave your hand and make them disappear.

[Supply5411]

I think you're having a kneejerk reaction to the first sentence. Read the rest of the post, where I propose how workers could be protected by less controlling laws.

[LapsangGuzzler]

Yeah, it’s an interesting idea but I still don’t think it’s viable because this already done in some industries and comes with its own problems.

One high-profile example is “Hollywood” accounting for residuals paid out to actors and staff on projects. Peter Jackson sued New Line cinema because they argued that they lost millions making Lord of the Rings and therefore didn’t have any money to pay his residual, blatant manipulation and this happens all the time. Companies are good at moving cash around the world to avoid paying taxes, this same mechanism could easily be used to show workers a manipulated version of their value. Who really trusts their employer to tell the whole truth and nothing but the truth?

[Supply5411]

There is much more freedom when they don't have to work to support a lie though. I'd rather a dishonest person or company have to put in a lot of work to defraud someone, than to have no scrutiny whatsoever.

[LapsangGuzzler]

I agree that we need more transparency on pay and how it impacts the bottom line, even just being able to publicly post total comp on all employees would dramatically change the tone of the conversation.

That said, I don’t think there’s anything dishonest about forcing employers to pay living wages, particularly with inflation as it’s been.

[bestcoder69]

Maybe workers will strike for... more detailed information about each worker's individual profit margin?