The Expansion of Unions Through the Minimum Wage

A persons wage is an agreement between an employer and a worker as to the value of that worker's labor. An employer has a budget that he is willing or able to spend on labor, and a worker has a value based on his experience and skill. Employers who require more skill and experience have to pay more to attract that skill and experience.

Government established minimum wages are an intrusion into this economic market and disrupt the market enough to cause umemployment. Many proponents of the minimum wage claim that it does not cause unemployment, because when the minimum wage is increased, unemployment does not tend to increase much if any. They fail to take notice of ecomomies where there is no minimum wage and virtually no unemployment.

It is notable that many union workers salaries in the United States are based on an amount over the minimum wage. So if the union wants to increase salaries for union members to justify the dues members pay, the union can push for higher minimum wages and, upon succeeding, have increased salaries for union members without directly pushing the issue with the employers with whom they negotiate.

Most people who work for the minimum wage are unskilled workers who are just getting a start in the market place. As they work their minimum wage job, they gain skill increasing their value in the market place. Most people are aware of their value and do not spend much time at minimum wage levels. With no minimum wage, people would gain increases in their wages due to an increase in the value of their labor. If someone who was working for less than the established minimum wage did not gain an increase in his wages over time, then he is not increasing his value by learning a skill or proving himself.

Minimum wages may look good to people with no skills on the surface, but these people should realize that with no skills, they might not be offered an opportunity to gain a skill with minimum wages increasing the the required value of the worker to meet or exceed the minimum wage. Minimum wages are bad for the economy and bad for people with no job skills.

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