In an editorial blog post on k1264610.blogspot.com titled "Labor Laws", author kjkacz proposes that laws affecting labor such as the minimum wage are hurting the citizens they are designed to help, lower income workers. He claims that the various benefits they receive due to these laws, such as overtime pay, sick leave, retirement pensions, increase labor costs for business. These labor costs may cause a company "to fire employees that no longer provide enough economic benefit to the company because of these added costs."
The author goes on to use a hypothetical example of increasing the minimum wage to $1000/ hour to help explain how he believes these laws are causing more harm than good. He proposes that if minimum wage is beneficial, an enormous increase in the hourly wage should be great for society. Because this would not be the case and companies would find it impossible to sustain these wages, that should show there are flaws with the minimum wage.
The owner of the blog also touches on different factors that contribute to unemployment, such as choice, current economic climate ,and government actions and legislation. He believes that because it is hard for most people to explain exactly why they are unable to gain employment, they look to the government to direct their blame toward.
He also looks at how some people justify the increased costs labor laws put on companies because they can afford the costs. The author believes these costs can not be overlooked, and they marginalize the least skilled workers. He states that a businesses primary objective is to earn a profit, not to employ workers. There are other ways he prefers citizens to address these business besides forcing labor laws on them, such as boycotting or Boycotting their products and services.
Even though I agree with his assertion that business are here to primarily earn a profit, I do not believe lowering government intervention in the ways they hire and keep employees is a viable strategy. As we have touched base on in this course, labor laws not only to help the unskilled and lower income workers, but they serve as some of the few protections that this segment of society has in an environment that is dominated by corporate interest and the elites of society. Without such laws in their favor, I believe many of these workers would not have a salary that they are able to provide for their family, be forced to work 60+ hours a week without paid vacations, and make it harder for the people that help companies succeed live an enjoyable life.
Labor laws also help somewhat to close the gap between the rich and the poor in this country. Even though the gap has been increased in recent years, we would see this effect accelerate if companies allocate less of their income for employees. I believe this is bad for our society, and stimulates ill will toward the upper echelon of our country. Above the belief that companies exist to earn a profit, our country exists in part to promote the general welfare of it's citizens. Without some guards against abuse for the less fortunate, general prosperity will be harder to achieve for all.
No comments:
Post a Comment