RE: Any other centrist atheists?
February 12, 2013 at 2:03 pm
(This post was last modified: February 12, 2013 at 2:05 pm by Tiberius.)
(February 12, 2013 at 8:35 am)fr0d0 Wrote:Well it's good that union power is being reduced, but there are still improvements that can be made. Companies who have workers strike should be able to fire those workers and hire new ones to replace them. In the place of striking, contract law should be improved and enforced correctly, and there should be a special service for negotiating changes without the need for strike action.(February 12, 2013 at 5:33 am)Tiberius Wrote: That is simply not true and you know it. Strike action is still protected in this country; in the past year workers have disrupted many services by striking and the government has protected them at all times.Well I have to make use of a union, and I can tell you that the law is firmly on the employers side. Yes govenrment and employers play the game of saying that they fully back union involvement, but in reality that amounts to yet more leverage against the employee.
(February 12, 2013 at 12:49 pm)CapnAwesome Wrote:Exactly! This highlights yet another problem with minimum wage: what value do you set it at? Most people who argue in favour of it seem to suggest they support the minimum wage being set to a "living wage"...i.e. the minimum amount people can live on. However, this number is arguably very low indeed...homeless people can live on much less than the minimum wage. It's not a very good life, but it's livable. So, of course, the minimum wage increases to support various other luxuries, becoming much more than a living wage...let's call it the "comfortable living wage".(February 11, 2013 at 2:31 pm)Ryantology Wrote: Much of the world lives without reliable drinking water, electricity, medical care or food supply. Is that what you suggest as the ideal situation?
Those people certainly aren't making 7.50 an hour.
No, having people without access to power or other luxuries isn't ideal, but neither is massive unemployment and increased dependence on welfare; both are side-effects of having a minimum wage. We aren't all equal in skill, and some jobs are worth much much less than others. I an ideal world, you could have a minimum wage and no unemployment, but we don't live in such a world. We have to have one or the other.
