America’s workers have bigger problems than just the minimum wage

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

This article sounds like a good argument for enforcement of the "Sherman Antitrust Act"

In an op-ed in The Wall Street Journal last week, billionaire investor Warren Buffett argued that any plan to increase the minimum wage "would almost certainly reduce employment in a major way." Given his past support of average Americans, his statement should not be viewed as a stand against better wages; rather, it underscores the fact that the average American worker faces multiple challenges beyond today's debate over the minimum wage. Here are three big ones:

Corporate power is growing

For starters, corporations today have disproportionate influence over U.S. workers. Employees can be hired or fired for almost any reason as the U.S. operates under an employment-at-will system. At the same time, the power of labor unions is declining, with only 11.1% of workers belonging to a union in 2014 compared to 20% in 1983, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

In this landscape, major corporations can set wage levels by virtue of being the largest employers. The more people a company hires, the more of the labor market it controls, and the greater its power to bring down the average wage for any particular job. This distortion of market forces by large players can be seen widely in industries like fast food and retail.

-more-

http://www.msn.com/en-us/money/markets/america%e2%80%99s-workers-have-bigger-problems-than-the-minimum-wage/ar-BBklfdo

[mountain grammy]

1. His conclusion:

Our most powerful companies need to recognize how their choices impact workers, and therefore the economy, and act cooperatively to raise market wage levels so that the government doesn't have to. Buffett is right that we need to preserve the integrity of the free market, but the system also needs to take care of the people who make the free market possible.

Yeah right, wake me up when this happens.