One guy's nose

rtowson — Thu, 29 Nov 2007 20:51:25 -0500

I don’t know, I’m kind of a “free market” guy so I can’t actually say that I’m fond of a minimum wage at all – which I’m pretty sure is an unpopular point of view, but there it is.

Now, the free market has to have rules or it all comes crashing down, and one of the rules is “You must obey the law.” So if farm workers’ wages are being kept artificially low by illegally employed people, that is a significant problem in my mind. One that I would very much like to see eliminated.

If eliminating that issue caused farm wages to go up and the attendant price increase to the consumer (me), so be it. I am fine with paying actual cost plus profit for all the things that I buy, not just food.

However, I am not in the habit of paying more for a given item than the list price, just because I like the person selling it. I don’t expect to get into that habit anytime soon. If it costs five bucks to produce, including your wages, and is sold for six bucks, I’m not about to offer ten “just because.”

I’m sure it is very hard indeed to live on less than minimum wage. The answer, then, is “don’t make less than minimum wage” not “whatever job I happen to be doing is worth $50K a year.” Or in other words (barring the sort of systematic foul play I mentioned above), if you don’t like the deal do something else for a living. Or don’t (live). Whatever.

Wages are driven by scarcity – the bigger the pool of people wanting the job, the lower the wage will be. Currently we see the influx of (in the charming public vernacular) “cheap immigrant labor” which increases the pool size dramatically. Would artificially inflating the wage of farm workers by way of the minimum wage cut back on illegal immigration – or would illegal immigrants simply benefit by making minimum wage?

Anyway, probably more than you were looking for. :)

By the way, do you have anything to back up the idea that farm workers are making less than minimum wage now? I’ve presumed that was the case through all this, but I’ll admit this is the first I’ve heard of it. Not that I’m particularly attuned to it all in the first place…

This one almost got lost!!!

RickW — Thu, 29 Nov 2007 20:20:12 -0500

OK, opinions are like noses, everybody has one. Since I cited no references, someone could at least dispute my "facts". Come on, Speak Up. We can't just ignore this topic forever, or can we?

Should farm workers be covered by Minimum Wage Laws?

RickW — Mon, 26 Nov 2007 13:08:10 -0500

As it stands right now, farm workers in the US are exempt from the minimum wage laws. I am not exactly sure why this is true, but I believe it has historic origins. I have heard that it is difficult for some to live on the minimal wage, so I must assume it is even more difficult to live on less than minimal wage.

What would it mean to us if this was corrected? The prices of some fruits and vegetables that are hand-picked might increase several times. Some items might completely disappear from the market.

As it stands right now, farm workers in the US are exempt from the minimum wage laws. I am not exactly sure why this is…

share.triangle.com - Should farm workers be covered by Minimum Wage Laws? - Comments

One guy's nose

This one almost got lost!!!

Should farm workers be covered by Minimum Wage Laws?