Funny thing is....40 or so years ago, ditch diggers, plumbers, electricians , and framers stood at the bottom rung of the pay scale.
Now they are pushing 40 to 100 dollars an hour, depending on the job.
Minimum Wage is a starting point, it was a set standard for simple jobs, done by inexperienced labourers .....it was never meant to support yourself.
Being a plumber or an electrician 40 years ago was not an "entry level" job.Those trades back then required certification/apprenticeship same as they do now....with regards to framers doing housing all it takes is some brains to get at the top of the food chain....why work for someone else that will pay you even say $22 an hour if you can compete with that same guy for a $60,000 framing job that gets done in say 6 weeks.
Minimum wage is for the truly un-skilled and the addition of laser scanners at pretty much any store you can think of has made the job even easier.Hell a trained monkey could do the job FFS.
Back in 2008 when Alberta was BOOMING big time the starting wage for people at places like Wendy's etc in Fort MacMurray was $20 an hour because they just could not hire people for anything less....they just could not hire staff to keep up with service to meet customer satisfaction.
I will say it is Regional with regards to stuff like that and at the same time that should be dealt with via employers within the Private Sector....it should not be MANDATED by Government decree(a Socialist doctrine) which the end goal of is the increased taxation of those it is purported to help but in fact gets them not very far after paying all of the TAXES that come with it.
At the same time how do private sector companies deal with the problems of Government jacking up minimum wage to the levels of people who have worked at those shitty unskilled jobs?I know a gal who works at a 7-11 and she has been at that job for 8 years and SHE started at minimum wage and got to the point that she makes $15.50 an hour.....next employee that gets hired with no time in and no experience gets $15 an hour......does the gal who put in 8 years get a $3-$4 an hour raise?....not fucking likely!!!!!
My best friend makes $25 an hour and his job though labour intensive is considered "unskilled" as it does not require a trade but it does require brains and the ability to think on his feet and adapt as the situation changes.....will he get a raise because the minimum wage got driven up?.....not fucking likely.
Minimum wage is just that....the MINIMUM....the lowest you are legally allowed to be paid...if you want MORE then upgrade your skills.
The whole issue about minimum wage IMO is nothing but class warfare and it is pitting the lowest class VS the middle class with the Socialist ideal/goal to wipe out the middle class.
SR