[literalusername]

SeaTac raised it to $15 at the beginning of 2014, and they're already seeing regrettable consequences.

    “Are you happy with the $15 wage?” I asked the full-time cleaning
    lady.

    “It sounds good, but it’s not good,” the woman said.

    “Why?” I asked.

    “I lost my 401k, health insurance, paid holiday, and vacation,”
    she responded. “No more free food,” she added.

    The hotel used to feed her. Now, she has to bring her own food.
    Also, no overtime, she said. She used to work extra hours and
    received overtime pay.

    What else? I asked.

    “I have to pay for parking,” she said.

    I then asked the part-time waitress, who was part of 
    the catering staff.

    “Yes, I’ve got $15 an hour, but all my tips are now much less,”
    she said. Before the new wage law was implemented, her hourly
    wage was $7. But her tips added to more than $15 an hour. Yes,
    she used to receive free food and parking. Now, she has to
    bring her own food and pay for parking.

http://www.unitedliberty.org/articles/17751-warning-to-seatt...

[illumen]

This is not a good study. They are a couple of anecdotes, for all we know cherry picked to promote the views of rich people trying to make more money off poor people.

Also, I'm not sure a cleaning lady, and a waitress are even qualified to figure out their financial situation. Especially since functional illiteracy, and innumeracy in that region is around 40%.

How do we know that the companies didn't use this situation to take away the benefits and blame it on the minimum wage laws? It sounds like a typical negotiation tactic pulled on the powerless. Sure, the managers need to come up with more money to balance the budget. Taking less profit, or increasing efficiency, or charging more are harder than simply taking away benefits from easily replaced low skilled workers.

[yummyfajitas]

If their workers were powerless, why wait for a minimum wage increase to take away benefits?

[bakhy]

because it gives a good cover. workers sometimes get outraged, go on strikes. a good excuse is worth gold.

[yummyfajitas]

Why would a profit maximizer care about the feelings or actions of a powerless person?

It's almost as if workers and employers are both consenting adults, capable of entering into or rejecting a transaction if it isn't mutually agreeable.

[bakhy]

that's if you insist on painting it black and white. reality is, unfortunately, somewhat complex.

anyway, your question is already answered in the post above. you do know what a strike is?

furthermore, many workers are theoretically capable of exiting such an agreement at will, but in reality they have little choice. work in one lousy job or another, or starve. which would you choose?

[yummyfajitas]

If the strike is harmful to the employer, then employees are not powerless. Which is the point I'm making.

work in one lousy job or another, or starve.

If we are discussing the US, the choices are enjoy consumption of $20k/year funded by the government or enjoy consumption of $20k/year funded by earned income.

ftp://ftp.bls.gov/pub/special.requests/ce/standard/2009/income.txt

[georgemcbay]

Well, with such an unbiased source as United Liberty quoting "full-time cleaning lady" as their economic analyst I guess the matter is settled.

[fdr234rd22]

Maybe you should read the article. They're quoting from "Assunta Ng, publisher of the Northwest Asian Weekly"

http://www.nwasianweekly.com/2014/05/blog-seatac-tells-us-15...

[whimsy]

"University of California, Berkeley study: Who Would be Affected by an Increase in Seattle’s Minimum Wage?" is a more comprehensive study on the empirical effects of raising minimum wage in nine other US localities.

http://murray.seattle.gov/minimumwage/#sthash.u0fx1kth.dpuf

[zo1]

This is like the 3rd or 4th post I've seen where you quote the same studies. Make a root comment, please, so we can all debate it and post counter-studies.

[bakhy]

so, give up on your pay, in order to maybe get tips and perks. charity > pay ?

also, kinda illogical. the tips got reduced when the waiter got a minimum wage, really? that doesn't make any sense.. and the perks for the hotel worker, it sounds like the hotel took away from her a greater value in perks then she got in the increased pay. are they exacting revenge on her due to their dissatisfaction with minimum wage laws, or what? why would they take away more? they used the introduction of minimum wage as an opportunity to squeeze her even more, under the pretense of being forced by the new wage rules?

[devcpp]

The entire American tip culture seems very weird to me as a Frenchman, where it is always included as a fixed percentage in the price. It looks to me like every waiter becomes a beggar when it's time to pay. Some of them are outraged when you pay too little; other times someone leaves a huge tip because he liked the waitress and the other waiters feel bad. It's just an unfair lottery and it's always awkward anyway.

Even the logic of promoting good service seems useless. The manager could easily take care of that (it's kind of his job) and if for some rare reason I had a bad experience, I can voice my opinion and not come back.

[honksillet]

The popular American (and British?) perception of French waiters and waitresses is that they are lazy and rude because they have no incentive to provide good service. (I have never visited France so I don't know if this is true or not.)

[digitalengineer]

Experienced Paris visitor with friends there. Even the French dislike a lot of things with regards to Paris, the waiters, the way they drive (local license plates). Funny thing is: In Paris they dislike people from certain parts of the city. The way they drive, etc.)

[bmm6o]

I'm surprised that a minimum wage job provided 401k, health insurance and paid holiday and vacation. Does anyone know how common that is?

Also, did the company drop its 401k program entirely? I don't think you can exclude certain workers without getting in trouble.

[apologies if these are answered in the article, it's blocked here]

[pawelkomarnicki]

Well that's another case of "careful what you wish for", assuming the money coming to the company is the same, but the output money is (any amount) higher, somewhere must be the cut to keep the profitability, and it's the easiest way to cut the perks...

[codytruscott]

This is bogus & unsourced. The minimum wage in Seatac was $9.19/hr in 2013, not $7.