Your recent editorial on the minimum wage suggests that you believe money is printed in Washington and dispensed at the pleasure of our politicians. It seems to be your belief that some people through luck or chicanery receive a disproportionate share at the expense of the rest of us. And, that this can be corrected by taxing those receiving an unfair share, and raising the minimum wage to compensate those at the bottom.
I disagree! Chicanery aside, I believe that money is the value of our labor. It is the grease that allows me to barter my labor for the printer's ink that I would have no use for if it wasn’t on the paper (which I also have no use for) that you turn into a newspaper.
The market, not government, determines how much you are able to charge for your newspaper, and me my labor. The Bureau of Labor Statistics (http://www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes514041.htm ) indicates that the median wage of a skilled machinist is about $20 an hour. Do you really think that Connecticut’s government can, by decree, make a teenager in a part-time job worth half as much as a skilled machinist?
Many years ago I worked dispensing soda for minimum wage at the Burger King on Dixwell Avenue. Have you noticed that job no longer exists? Nor do many other jobs that have been priced out of existence (ATMs come to mind).
I own a small business. None of my employees earn minimum wage because they are all worth more based on their value to the company. From time to time I have hired a teenager to do odd jobs around the shop.
It’s possible that I would not be bothered by an increase in minimum wage but at best I would delay the hiring decision as long as possible. The only way to increase wages is to increase a person’s value to employers.
Randall J. Raines
Cheshire