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Maintaining a capitalistic, supply and demand system to shape the national wage structure has always been the mantra of business owners here since the first call for a national minimum wage appeared in the 1930’s. There is a prevalent argument that a minimum wage system is a symbol of a welfare state or socialism, and it impedes on the operational efficiency of businesses. In addition, there is a fear that a high across the board increase of wages will result in downsizing, as businesses struggles to maintain their bottom line.
Of course, on the flip side, advocates of the national minimum wage points out that too often businesses hide behind the profitability argument, ignoring the fact that people must be fairly compensated for their contributions to a company, and not expected to sacrifice for large enterprises. Asking workers to accept lower wages is akin to asking the average worker to bear the burden of subsidizing the running costs of big businesses. There is also the fear that businesses often engage in a cartel like behavior to set an ‘appropriate’ wage structure, thus denying market forces from determining the correct wage level. It is also worth noting that the last national minimum wage increase was back in 1997, during the Clinton administration.
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