Yes, let’s ignore the million plus workers getting minimum wage. A wage that hasn’t increased in a very long time. It’s not a political talking point; it’s a moral talking point.
If you want to make a minimum wage argument, you have to look at total receipts and benefits.
For better or worse, we have opted for a systems where much of the receipts for low income works flow directly from the government. A minimum wage worker qualifies for free healthcare, food subsidies, and greatly subsidized housing if they can navigate the waitlist.
We should ignore that a million plus people are working for minimum wage. They don’t count. I agree with you.
It’s better to say that the statistics aren’t changed much by increasing the federal minimum wage as it pertains to the productivity/pay gap. But one should acknowledge that for those making minimum wage it is a disgrace that it hasn’t increased for a long time and that it is far too low. Those people do matter. This isn’t just a discussion about statistics. There is a human element to the issue and morality is part of what one ought to consider when thinking about the issue.
EDIT: I edited my comment while you were responding. The discussion in the present thread is not about the dockworkers. It’s about the pay/productivity gap in the U.S. In that discussion a person said that minimum wage workers were irrelevant and that the minimum wage was just a political talking point.
Of course they count. The question is whether port logistics is the best policy tool with which to address their plight.
The striking dockworkers don’t earn minimum wage. If the striking workers win, the minimum wage stays right where it is and has been for ~2mm minimum-wage workers [1]. This isn’t a fight about minimum wage. They count. But they aren’t relevant.
> about the pay/productivity gap in the U.S.
Fair enough. I believe we need a minimum-wage hike. But I don’t see how that’s relevant to a union strike.
This argument shifted the goal posts. First, it was about compensation in general against productivity. now it’s about minimum wage workers, who comprise 1% of the workforce ? What is the productivity change of minimum wage workers? (I actually don’t know.)
We are pointing out that the salaries are stagnant or getting worse over time (e.g. min wage) in real money terms. We show you that the inflation is same or higher than the annual wage raises, while the GDP is still growing (GDP growth is already adjusted for inflation).
So someone is benefiting from the GDP growth, but this someone is not the W2-worker. But you don't want to admit the facts.
The data shows that the average wage is keeping up with productivity growth. The only argument you've presented is that the minimum wage has not kept up with productivity growth. You're right about that, which is a fairly narrow point, given the proportion of people making federal minimum wage has dropped from 13% to 1% of workers.
I am asking you again to show me convincing numbers.
[1]https://www.bls.gov/eci/home.htm
[2] https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/FPCPITOTLZGUSA