
An increase in the minimum wage will impact, not only local small business, but all companies doing business in Pennsylvania. Unfortunately, the corporate leadership is only concerned about their bottom line. To a CEO or CFO, its just a numbers game, and the employee is the number. You are a couch in the working world; easily moved, easily replaced, and easily forgotten once you are gone.
Upon the implementation of the increased minimum wage, cuts in hours, and layoffs will begin. In the corporate world, keeping the labor percentage down, is almost as important as customer service. Actually; I take that back. It is more important than customer service, because they know you will continue to comeback; not from a sense of loyalty, but from habit or convenience.
As the unions have basically turned over most of their functions to the government, they are useless, at this time. I would also make the same argument in regard to the church, but that is a discussion for another time. The average worker has no where to turn for help as they are dumped by a company that demands their loyalty and sacrifice, while in turn, moving to Mexico, China or another state with a better deal.
The leadership in Harrisburg, if you can find it, needs to focus on job creation by bring new companies into Pennsylvania. This can be done by lowering personal taxes, gasoline taxes, making real cuts in the budget, reducing the size of government, including the State Legislature, and making Pennsylvania an affordable place to live. There needs to be real enforcement of E-verify, to make sure that Pennsylvanians are first in line for job opportunities.
Instead of burdening companies, that feel burdened by the cost of their employees, with a government mandated pay raise, it should be creating an atmosphere in which companies want to invest resources into Pennsylvania. In my experience Pennsylvanians are not afraid of hard work, but the burdens the government places on them and their employers. When the employment axe falls, it seldom cuts from the top, it hacks those at the bottom who can least afford it.
When was the last time you heard that an hourly employee was given a multi-million dollar “Golden Parachute,” as his company heads across the border? Only in America can you be a complete failure as an executive, destroy a company, and ruin thousands of lives, and get rewarded for it, as you’re headed out the door.
Corporations and elected officials live the American Dream, by giving their workers and constituents an American Nightmare.