$457,000
Jesse Cornett
“it doesn’t make sense that our waitresses are getting tips plus the highest minimum wage in the country”
Really? I mean, c'mon, really? Mininum wage in Oregon is only going to be $8.50 per hour next year. $8.50. Yet a former NBA player thinks that waitresses (his term) earn too much money because they get tips also. Wow. Really. Oh wait, that former NBA player is, of course, Chris Dudley, Oregon Republican Party’s nominee for governor.
I called around tonight to talk with some of my friends in the restaurant industry and tried to get an understanding of the amount of money they might make and compared it to an NBA player. The really good servers might get $200 in a day and work 4-5 shifts per week. $75,000 annually is high end for a server but $35,000-$50,000 is average. The NBA league minimum for a first year rookie is over $457,000 per year. Yet Chris Dudley thinks servers are getting paid to much.
A tip is a gratuity, not a wage. It's entirely voluntary, and given by the customer - not the employer - and it's certainly not guaranteed. It happens and is a risk of the business. $457,000 for your first year is guaranteed if you play in the NBA. Oh by the way if it’s slow, you face going home early and getting nothing but the minimum wage -- and good thing too, that's why it's called the minimum wage.. Did I mention that $457,000 is guaranteed if you play in the NBA? Oh by the way, the benefits most of us enjoy in many professions (health insurance and etc.) rarely exist for restaurant employees. So, shouldn't Oregonians guarantee a minimum wage for these workers like they do with all others? Have you ever worked as a waiter? I have. Do you know how much my average paycheck was? It’s been a long time so I don’t remember precisely but I don’t ever recall seeing a paycheck over $50 for a two week period because after taxes are taken out for your minimum wage and tips, that’s all that’s left (you get tips nightly of course).
I suppose an upside for a tip credit would be that restaurants could pay back of the house staff more. Raise your hand if you really think they would. Oh by the way, in states with lower minimum wages for service staff “sidework” includes a heck of a lot more. In these cases, servers end up doing some of the duties cooks and janitorial staff usually would since owners get away with paying a substandard wage. While it might equate to more jobs, the pay is substandard.
Oh and by the way, one of my waitstaff friends couldn’t resist and I can’t miss the opportunity to pass along that in addition to his support for their maintaining minimum wage, Governor Kitzhaber’s also a great tipper.
More Recent Posts | |
Albert Kaufman |
|
Guest Column |
|
Kari Chisholm |
|
Kari Chisholm |
Final pre-census estimate: Oregon's getting a sixth congressional seat |
Albert Kaufman |
Polluted by Money - How corporate cash corrupted one of the greenest states in America |
Guest Column |
|
Albert Kaufman |
Our Democrat Representatives in Action - What's on your wish list? |
Kari Chisholm |
|
Guest Column |
|
Kari Chisholm |
|
connect with blueoregon
8:12 a.m.
Sep 21, '10
At $8.40 per hour a person earning minimum wage makes $335 per week before taxes. This translates to $18,800 per year.
In what sense is that "disproportionate compensation"?
When you realize that 1,300 families accounted for about 1/3rd of total earnings in the United States last year, it becomes clear that waiters and waitresses living at or near the poverty line should be earning more, not less.
11:43 a.m.
Sep 21, '10
It's less then that! $335 x 52 weeks = $17472 before taxes. That is making the HUGE assumption that you can find a waitstaff job that lets you work 40 hours (a lot don't). With most rents in the Portland area being $750 (ha! I've never seen anything above a studio for $800) that means $9000 goes away just to keep a roof over your head for a year. And if you try and have a car or have some medical care... you are screwed.
But it's obviously the lazy, weak, stupid minimum wage earners who are bringing down society...
12:27 p.m.
Sep 21, '10
Ever hear of roommates. That's what most people do.
12:43 p.m.
Sep 21, '10
Oh we could just house them all in dorms, and charge them for it, of course. Solve the housing problem with servants' quarters and debtors' prisons!
1:20 p.m.
Sep 21, '10
Why not just put them in those FEMA camps the right wing wackos are always talking about.
8:50 p.m.
Sep 21, '10
You'd make a really good Marie Antoinette. Only the difference is, she didn't say let them eat cake. You just did.
11:52 a.m.
Sep 22, '10
I had no idea that suggesting a 22 years old making minimum wage should consider sharing expenses with a roommate was some liberal sin. My apologies.
1:49 p.m.
Sep 22, '10
"a 22 years old making minimum wage"
Stereotype, much?
What about a single mother of, say 32? Or an underemployed senior, trying to make ends meet?
When you suggest simple solutions for how others should live their lives that conveniently align with your point of view on policy ("those (other) people who earn minimum wage don't need to be paid more, they just need to get a roommate") you're showing a double standard: if a CEO makes a 7, 8 or 9 figure salary, the right screams "class warfare" if anyone suggests they don't "need" that much money, yet that's exactly what you're telling the person on minimum wage, and painting a misleadingly narrow picture of what that person is to make it easier to justify!
Disgusting, actually.
2:55 p.m.
Sep 22, '10
Actually, the BLS doesn't distinguish between parents/non-parents, but they do with age, race, gender, education.
The statistical profile of the "typical" person make at or below the federal minimum wage is: white female, age 24 or less, with a high school diploma.
in re: your stereotypes
30-34 yr old women are 5.7% of the people making at/below fed min wage
Seniors are 3.2%
Under the age of 25 are 50.4% 25-34 are 21.7 In total under 34 are 72.1%
10:08 a.m.
Sep 23, '10
So, since over age of 25 are (according to your #s) 49.6% of those earning, at or below minimum wage, we can just pretend they don't exist, and suggest they get roommates instead of paying them enough to live on.
Brilliant.
5:12 p.m.
Sep 23, '10
Does it also tell how many of them are making just over minimum wage? What I've found is that many of those who are older and working at lower pay are just over minimum wage - many times in the 1-10 cent more range. That's about $200 more a year if they get 10 cents more.
People forget that minimum wage doesn't just affect those making minimum wage - it affects most hourly workers. Their pay is often based on a percent or certain number of cents over minimum wage. So when you lower minimum wage, it often times lowers the wages of workers going into positions that don't make minimum wage.
Also, unless you're looking at a different page than I am, that is talking about the Federal minimum wage. So those in states that have higher minimum wage aren't included. All the tables and information I've seen on there thus far are for the federal minimum wage.
1:07 a.m.
Sep 23, '10
...Yes because everyone wants to live with roommates all their lives. Stupid. Its not feasable to want to be able to completly support yourself... on your own, with your own space, knowing you are respected enough as a working class citizen to bust your butt and be able to make ends meet. ...you really just want to do half the work. Gotcha. You live with your parents don't you.
8:23 a.m.
Sep 21, '10
I've been in the restaurant industry for about 20 years and I can tell you that I've never had too much money. Minimum wage=poverty wage, period. I'd love to see some of these jerks try to live with a job where they earned minimum wage for a year and see how they'd survive.
8:32 a.m.
Sep 21, '10
Three points:
The Republican proposal in the national minimum wage debate a couple of years ago would have sentenced anyone who made (or should have made) $30 a week in tips to a reduced minimum wage (which the hospitality industry enthusiastically endorsed because it would allow them to pay housekeeping staff less than a living wage). It would also have forced Oregon to reduce the state minimum wage. Gordon Smith endorsed it. I suspect Dudley would as well.
A critical assumption in this debate is that waiters (which I see as a non-sex specific term) actually take home all their tip money. Having worked in the hospitality industry in California for years (in another life)I've seen tip policies that ranged from pooling ALL tips in the restaurant and distributed them among dining room and kitchen staff according to an arbitrary formula to the much more common expectation that waiters will share their tips generously with their support staff, including bussers, cooks, and bartenders.
At a time when Republicans are determined to "phase out" social security, it makes sense that they are looking for ways to reduce employer payments into the system. This is another one of those reductions.
This is a criminally stupid idea that needs to be staked through its heart, have its head removed, and be buried facing down. People who endorse it should be ridiculed as vampires sucking income from those who can be numbered as among those least able to afford having their incomes reduced.
8:38 a.m.
Sep 21, '10
Props to the DPO for making at least one of Dudley's policy ideas public. I consider myself a person who tries, and it has been a struggle to figure out what this guy actually stands for.
10:36 a.m.
Sep 21, '10
Not really that hard: Issues
10:46 a.m.
Sep 21, '10
A link to his campaign website where empty and vacuous statements of "positions", and a sprinkling of budget plans that use magical voodoo economic generalities is hardly really getting at where the guy stands on much.
11:00 a.m.
Sep 21, '10
You must keep a list of cut-n-paste statements close by for you responses.
4:47 p.m.
Sep 21, '10
When Dudley starts sounding like something other than a cut-and-paste copy of George Bush, maybe he'll deserve something more than a cut-and-paste reply.
But when I read things like "tax cuts will raise revenues", it's obvious he either A] Knows it's an obvious lie (i.e. is an evil SOB), or B] Is too stupid to realize it.
Either way, he isn't someone who should be elected dogcatcher, much less governor. We haven't quite climbed our way out of the last GOP craphole. This is certainly no time to dive back in.
11:44 a.m.
Sep 21, '10
Mitchell,
To be fair,I actually found it to be an interesting link. I'm not overly impressed with the concepts, and what I found most fascinating is Chris Dudley's idea about "selling Oregon to the world." If he were a more accessable candidate I would be extremely interested in hearing Dudley expand on that. His idea about "strengthening the executive branch" is a bunch of crap- part of what makes Oregon ungovernable (oh yeah, I said it) is the division of the executive branch into so many roles. Ultimately, the Oregon governor has little power except, perhaps, his ability to articualate a vision for Oregon and express that through his proposed budget and various administrative roles. Dudley's proposal alludes to weakening zoning and land use laws and essentially marketing the state as a destination for immigration... NOT reflective of the values I associate with our state.
I also find it interesting that Dudley seems to think that the way to gain power for the executive branch is through undermining the legislature. His proposal calls for the support of the initiative system with the arguement the process allows citizens a direct role in government while maintaining a "citizen legislature" that continues to meet only every-other year. We can talk about this if you guys want to, and I suspect Micheal will, but I just flat out disagree that these strategies provide the most democratic experience, let alone strengthen the exectutive branch.
7:46 a.m.
Sep 22, '10
well said.
3:56 p.m.
Sep 22, '10
not "issues". NUMBERED issues. lots of numbers!! numbers for the numbers of issues.
you gots problems? Duds gots NUMBERS!! and Issues. Numbered Issues.
8:47 a.m.
Sep 21, '10
Clearly, the Duds does not understand the plight of Joe and Jane Six-Pack.
I think that the time of people making over $250,000 a year is not so much more valuable than a minimum wage workers time as to be able to justify all this backwards economic philosophy.
Here is a tip Dudely Campaign, don't dine out anytime soon. Lol. j/k.
9:04 a.m.
Sep 21, '10
This is typical Republican policy. Low wage economy. They think that if employers pay lower salaries to people who are expendable anyway, then the economy benefits. In the end they want to impoverish the very consumers these businesses rely on.
9:38 a.m.
Sep 21, '10
We Can't Make It Here Anymore James McMurtry
*Original lyric $5.15
10:34 a.m.
Sep 21, '10
According to the BLS, min wage workers are about 1.7% of workers nationwide. 50% of them are under the age of 25.
10:43 a.m.
Sep 21, '10
According to the Economic Policy Institute's year 2000 study on the impact of minimum wage, that's $8.4 million people. From their study synopsis:
Of the 8.4 million workers (age 18 to 64) whose wages and incomes would increase with a one-dollar raise in the minimum wage, 2.7 million (32%) are the parents of 4.7 million children.
Of the 2.7 million parents who earned at or near the current minimum wage in 1999, 63% had family incomes below $25,000.
Most minimum wage workers are adults (71%), age 20 and up. Women and minority workers are over-represented among the minimum wage workforce. Slightly less than half (48%) of the minimum wage workforce are full-time workers.
Source: http://www.epi.org/publications/entry/briefingpapers_min_wage_bp/
10:48 a.m.
Sep 21, '10
And your point is?
10:57 a.m.
Sep 21, '10
http://www.bls.gov/cps/minwage2008.htm
12:00 p.m.
Sep 21, '10
Again, your point?
12:19 p.m.
Sep 21, '10
dishonest argumentation from your own source of statistics. You said that min wage workers are only 1.7% of the workforce. Technically true, but those making min wage OR LESS are 3% of the total, almost twice the number that you're putting forward.
12:23 p.m.
Sep 21, '10
Together, these 2.2 million workers with wages at or below the minimum made up 3.0 percent of all hourly-paid workers
75.3 million American workers age 16 and over were paid at hourly rates, representing 58.2 percent of all wage and salary workers
3% of hourly-paid works times 58.2% of all workers equals 1.746% of all workers
1:21 p.m.
Sep 21, '10
Again, your point?
3:58 p.m.
Sep 21, '10
I think Michael's point is clear. It's ONLY 3% of the people, so who really gives a crap about them?
Sigh.
6:05 p.m.
Sep 21, '10
Kinda why I was pressing the point. But given that min. wage earners are a larger cohort than those facing the estate tax the GOP was bleating about in recent years, and that they spend all their income right back into the economy, we most certainly should NOT be looking to pull the floor out from under them.
7:56 p.m.
Sep 21, '10
The point was simple. Look at what happens when someone posted a simple fact. Look at the assumptions that were made. I have been called a liar(Pat), someone who doesn't care about low income earners(kari),the the rich are more important than the poor(Larry) and unsympathetic to the poor(Mel & Jonathan).
Damn I wish you had been around when I did my psychology thesis. You guys are a trip.
Sometimes a fact is just a fact.
9:35 p.m.
Sep 21, '10
you appear to be looking at the same facts as everyone else and drawing the conclusion that service industry workers getting minimum wage are such a small percentage they don't matter.
If that is the case, why fight the minimum wage?
Wouldn't creating more/lower minimum wage jobs reduce the median wage?
Are you arguing that Oregon's problem is that we pay people too much?
You appear to pop on here without much of a point. Is THIS your Psych Thesis? cause I'm waiting for the punchline.
If you have a point say it.
3:58 p.m.
Sep 22, '10
a fact is NEVER a fact. (and that's a fact.)
6:57 p.m.
Sep 21, '10
Whoa! Can you possibly be suggesting that this 3% is less important than those other 3 percenters... the 3% of "small" businesses that suck up more than 50% of the incomes reported by "small" businesses? or the 3% of U.S. households that pull in more than $200,000 a year?
Damn. You're right. That must be Michael's point.
8:09 p.m.
Sep 21, '10
The moral test of Government is how that Government treats those who are in the dawn of life, the children; those who are in the twilight of life, the elderly; and those who are in the shadows of life, the sick, the needy and the handicapped. - Hubert Humphrey.
8:20 p.m.
Sep 21, '10
Did he lose by a larger margin than Dukakis?(sp?)
8:03 a.m.
Sep 22, '10
Which would mean what, exactly? That the Humphrey quote has no meaning to US citizens? That we're just not that moral--so who gives a F?
Sad.
4:02 p.m.
Sep 22, '10
Nixon beat Humphrey by 500,000 votes, approx 43%-42%. Wallace got 13%. the Electoral College count was goofy, because Nixon won lots of states, but the national vote was very close.
Wikipedia is your friend, Kurt; it'll save you from asking ridiculous questions.
7:49 p.m.
Sep 21, '10
1.7% and half of those are under 25. Facts matter
9:22 p.m.
Sep 21, '10
yes, facts do matter ... from BLS:
"Within the service occupations, 1 out of every 5 food service workers earned $5.15 or less per hour. Three out of every 5 workers paid less than the minimum wage were, in fact, employed in food service occupations.
Such a large proportion may reflect the tip credit provisions of the Federal minimum wage statutes. Under these provisions, a worker who receives tips generally may be paid a wage below $5.15, provided that the employee’s tips, combined with a minimum cash wage of $2.13, equal at least $5.15."
I find it somewhat amusing that you along with Dudley seem to be arguing for lower wages in Oregon. I have to wonder how far that brick will fly.
9:48 a.m.
Sep 22, '10
I said no such thing and neither did Dudley. A restaurant owner who spoke to Dudley was the person who made the statement.
Let's see what you can infer from this fact: it is 9:48 am right now as I type this
4:03 p.m.
Sep 22, '10
Dudley said, "I agree with your on this issue." he did not clarify, modify, or anything-ify. he agreed with the man's statement, period.
4:55 p.m.
Sep 22, '10
Yes, Dudley agreed that Oregon's high min wage makes it difficult for businesses.
10:37 a.m.
Sep 23, '10
He also agreed that waitstaff in Oregon make too much money and erroneously stated (prior to quoting the alleged business owners) that Oregon has the highest minimum wage.
7:53 p.m.
Sep 23, '10
and Obama visited 57 states, yet I still voted for him.
11:11 a.m.
Sep 21, '10
And clearly you are not and have not been in that group for a while or you'd know how hard it is to just survive on those wages.
3:18 p.m.
Sep 21, '10
Excellent idea, Michael, keep 1.7% of the workforce at low wages, and then tax the top 1.7% until they know what it feels like!
3:35 p.m.
Sep 21, '10
What idea? Do you work as a mind reader in carnival side shows?
11:08 a.m.
Sep 21, '10
I was raised by a single mother who was a waitress and a cook all her life. We never had health insurance, we rented or were taken in by relatives for housing. There are many families out there who are being supported, just barely, by women and men who wait tables or do fast food. Like I say, the GOP and even some who post on this forum just see these workers as throw-aways, worthless human beings who shouldn't get paid anything because they don't deserve it. And the GOP candidate, Mr. Lake Oswegeo "wealth manager" Dudster, seems to hold that same view himself.
11:14 a.m.
Sep 21, '10
That's one glass of wine downtown.
11:51 a.m.
Sep 21, '10
If you want to see a complete disconnect, go on to the website for Filigree Advisors LLC. This is the company Dudley is a partner in. It's about the free market and risk commensurate with goals. It's about wealth. Let's put it this way: It's not Michael Harrington's half of the world. I am truly sorry for all of us if Dudley is elected.
12:19 p.m.
Sep 21, '10
Are you referring to the Michael Harrington who is the founder of the Democratic Socialists of America.
12:22 p.m.
Sep 21, '10
"it doesn’t make sense that our waitresses are getting tips plus the highest minimum wage in the country"-Chris Dudley
So who's making up the T-shirts?
12:59 p.m.
Sep 21, '10
Here are the assumptions:
Servers=waitresses because these are "women's jobs."
Women aren't worth much and only work for "extras."
Therefore it doesn't make sense that servers should make enough to live on.
Impeccable Republican logic.
6:01 p.m.
Sep 21, '10
4:01 p.m.
Sep 21, '10
Forget t-shirts.
We need business cards - so that you can drop them with every tip you leave in the next 42 days.
10:47 p.m.
Sep 21, '10
THAT is an excellent idea :)
11:47 a.m.
Sep 22, '10
Print it on pens, which you leave with your credit card slip after signing.
10:18 a.m.
Sep 23, '10
Can someone ask Witham and Dickey to print them? How would we get them distributed...? I've got the time if someone has the system.
12:47 p.m.
Sep 21, '10
I don't think they get that wait staff make minimum wage because they get tips. If they weren't allowed to get tips, they would need a higher wage for those positions for the amount of hard work they do. I don't think people get sometimes just how hard that work can be.
I worked in a restaurant and was not allowed to take tips - even if I served customers - and therefore I made more than minimum wage.
I think it's so funny that they can begrudge a person making $20-35,000 a year. It's not a lot of money and they work their ass off for it. And chances are, all their money goes back out into the community as rent, food, etc.
I think the last people we should be complaining about making too much money are those at the bottom.
1:34 p.m.
Sep 21, '10
I think the NBA is a ripoff- they hardly even play team ball, anymore- they just post up the big scorer and then play off what happens next.
Part of the reason that mediocrities such as Dudley made $2 mil. per year is that many Americans are willing to put up with this crappy style of play.
That and considering that Paul Allen also owns Rose City Radio (Lars Larson) are good reasons to ignore the NBA in Portland, if you aren't already.
And practically all pro athletes who run as politicians turn out to be Tea Partiers or close to that. This is because they've lived in a rarefied world where they think they actually earn what they make.
Maybe someday the NBA and the like will have dimished interest, which might indicate people spending time in a more worthwhile way than idolizing a bunch of millionaires who don't care enough to play good basketball.
2:29 p.m.
Sep 21, '10
Well, once again this is Republican thinking. The really important work is done by big time male sports entertainers who throw a ball through a hoop. But if someone (mainly women)serves food to the public or takes care of your mother in a nursing home, they don't even deserve minimum wage.
3:25 p.m.
Sep 21, '10
I made $2.13 an hour waiting tables while in college in Tucson, Arizona. That was half the federal minimum wage at the time. We had about an hour of side work after our shift, including mopping floors, food preparation, dishes, etc. The owner made wait staff do everything because a janitor or cook would have cost $4.50 an hour or more.
The worst tippers, I'm not kidding, were the happy hour tables full of college BASKETBALL PLAYERS who were, at that time, doing very well on the courts. They were stars in the worlds' eyes, but none of wanted to wait on them. They took up a lot of space, made a lot of noise, and more often than not left without tipping much, if anything at all. That meant we put up with an hour of their mess, and missed out on other tipping customers, for a $2.13 wage.
I wonder if Chris Dudley ate out with Lute Olson at that time? If so, he might owe me some tips.
10:21 a.m.
Sep 23, '10
Thanks so much for reinforcing my point Jennifer! Your story is great (I mean it sucks, but you know what I mean).
3:51 p.m.
Sep 21, '10
I think the Kitzhaber campaign should feature Jennifer Sargent's story of what it was like to work for sub-minimum wage.
7:58 a.m.
Sep 22, '10
I think the Duds campaign should feature it!!
5:26 p.m.
Sep 21, '10
I don't know what's worse. The sexist innuendo of "our waitresses" or his belief that we voters are just too dumb to understand. Pleh.
6:12 p.m.
Sep 21, '10
That's it. Rich people are just misunderstood by losers like us who don't have any waitresses to call our own. If we did we'd understand the hardship involved in having to pay them so much.
6:59 p.m.
Sep 21, '10
I'm hoping Kitz runs a tv Ad with this. This is the kind of thing that burns a lot of people, real elitism and snobbery of the worst sort, that denigrates and marginalizes low income people expendable. It is also a defining issue between a real Democrat and a real Republican. Republicans care the most about people at the top and look out first for their interests. Democrats care about the middle class and the low income people, people who are having the most struggle just to survive. In other words, most people. That's why we're having this debate now nationally about extending the Bush tax cuts. Republicans want their tax cuts for the 3% at the top who fund their campaigns first and to hell with the middle class. And their policy for the economy, is trickle down economics, of course, of course. It's a debate Democrats win.
4:06 p.m.
Sep 22, '10
Bill, i don't know if they're going to do tv with it, but there's a new (and fast-growing) FB page: Protect Oregon's Minimum Wage (http://www.facebook.com/OregonMinimumWage). people can speak out against Dudley (and now Huffman) and stand up for thousands of hard-working, very needy Oregonians.
7:11 p.m.
Sep 21, '10
Bill, this is complete BS.
7:18 p.m.
Sep 21, '10
Sorry, couldn't hold it in. :)
7:39 p.m.
Sep 21, '10
Just curious: how many people here think Dudley said: “it doesn’t make sense that our waitresses are getting tips plus the highest minimum wage in the country”
8:13 p.m.
Sep 21, '10
I just watched the video again and reconfirmed it. That's what he said.
8:42 p.m.
Sep 21, '10
Only the people who can hear and understand English. Why?
8:43 p.m.
Sep 21, '10
If he really did say it, that would be just awful, wouldn't it? (rolls eyes)
8:07 a.m.
Sep 22, '10
He said that a restaurant owner said this to him. He also said something along the lines of he understands the issue and isn't going to address it in his campaign because it's too hard for people to really understand. I'd actually like to see more of his involvement in discussing the details of what he has in mind with the lofty aims he is making in his website. ANYONE can write a bunch of ideas (heck look at all of us!!!), but how are you going to execute them? That's what I want to know, so that I understand the ramifications of his execution and who those plans are going to help (I think with what I heard so far, it's not going to help me and my kids - and that is my bottom line when I vote).
4:07 p.m.
Sep 22, '10
i like his insinuation that this issue is too complicated for most people to understand. great strategy: tell people they're too stupid to understand you.
9:44 a.m.
Sep 22, '10
Let me rephrase that: Dudley didn't make that statement, but he was quoting a restaurant owner he talked to.
2:16 p.m.
Sep 22, '10
So Dudley was bringing it up because he disagreed with that statement?
2:39 p.m.
Sep 22, '10
You work really hard trying to to defend these economic royalists.
7:51 p.m.
Sep 21, '10
Does the Oregon minimum wage recalibrate downward when deflation hits?
9:23 p.m.
Sep 21, '10
No - it sets a floor with no sinkholes, which is why it did not go down in 2010. And the calibration is a look back -- August to August for the next year. So, if today the Fed had adopted a policy that all economists predict will lead to greater inflation between now and August 2011 and beyond, the minimum wage worker won't see an adjustment until January 2012.
10:30 p.m.
Sep 21, '10
thanks Chuck, so the inflation rate dropped in 2009 from 2008 so no minimum wage increase in 2010. Now Col is slightly higher in 2010 v 2009, but not as hig as 2008 so the minimum wage went up.
we set new highs, but never give back when there is no inflation or deflation. That worked out real well for US Steel, didn't it?
11:01 p.m.
Sep 21, '10
"No inflation" is zero change -- so it wouldn't make sense to change the wage.
As for deflation, how often has that actually happened?
And keep in mind that "overinflated" wage would only apply until inflation returned and went back past zero.
11:44 a.m.
Sep 22, '10
Kurt, the minimum wage in Oregon is still behind the historical high in the mid-1970s. It will never catchup absent legislative or initiative action.
8:52 p.m.
Sep 21, '10
So, does anyone even believe that prices in restaurants will go down if this ever came to pass? Please.
9:42 p.m.
Sep 21, '10
Shortly after college, I came to Oregon on a trip and remember thinking, "WOW! Servers in Oregon earn more than twice what I made in Arizona. Oregon must really care about working people." It made a hugely positive impression of the state that was one of many factors that helped me decide to move here a couple of years later (which was long after my days of waiting tables were over ... thank goodness for that.)
And no, in my experience, restaurant owners don't use the tip credit to lower prices or share the wealth with other staff. The prices are the same, and the non-tip wages are the same, in states with and without the tip penalty.
4:10 p.m.
Sep 22, '10
Jennifer, you missed the part where the questioner said our minimum wage brings the wrong kind of worker to Oregon - and they stay here! to which Duds agreed.
10:16 p.m.
Sep 22, '10
That's me! I've been nothing but trouble since I landed in 1997. :)
9:29 p.m.
Sep 21, '10
To put the title of this post in perspective: $457,000 is $8,788 a week. In two weeks (plus a fraction of an hour) the basketball player will have earned as much as the minimum wage worker earned over an entire year if the worker gets in 40 hours for all 52 weeks.
11:41 p.m.
Sep 21, '10
When we talk about minimum wage we seem to always focus on jobs and business and not the people who are working these extremely low paying jobs. I want us to consider the implications of a full time waiting job on the people working that job. For the purposes of simplicity let’s assume I am a waiter working 40 hours a week 5 nights a week at $8.50 an hour.
After I share my tips with co-workers (cooks, busers, and hosting staff) I bring home about $25 a night. If (and that’s a huge if) I never am told to go home early I will bring in $22,880 a year. I am also the supporting parent of a family of four. My monthly rent on average will be $868 for a small two bedroom one costing me $10,416 a year (http://www.rentvine.com/blog/index.php/find-the-average-rent-for-your-city/). In addition to shelter I will need food which on average will set me back $644.70 a month if I have some children (add a hundred a month for young children and teenagers) costing a cool $7736.4 a year (http://www.cnpp.usda.gov/usdafoodcost-home.htm). So after just food and shelter I only have $4737.6 a year. If I live somewhere where I can take a bus and fares are the same as Tri-Met I will lose another $968 a year (http://trimet.org/fares/index.htm). If I live in Salem where bus service stops at 9 pm and I work the night shift I can hand over $1248 a year in car costs, excluding the purchase/lease of a car which adds a few more thousand to that number. (http://commutesolutions.org/calc.htm)
So after just covering the very basics I am at around $4,000 a year. With that money I can buy no dental or medical coverage so myself, potentially I can get cheap state insurance for my kids. So in an ideal situation I can have a few thousand left after all key expenses and pay I don’t get sick or lose shifts. In reality I probably will be sent home on quite shifts and won’t always get lots of tips.
The morale of the story is that it’s painfully difficult to live on a minimum wage. Maybe more people will have jobs but in reality many people making that wage are homeless. I go out to Cascade Gateway Park in Salem to work with homeless populations and the majority of them have full time minimum wage jobs but because of medical expenses and such they cannot afford a place to live. Add in that apartments prefer people with more income who can pay rent on bad months and its hell being a low wage worker.
4:12 p.m.
Sep 22, '10
you make some good points: the frequent lack of full-time hours, no benefits to help with child care or any other expenses, etc. the minimum wage is, in many ways, an ideal, a goal. even for a single person, the minimum wage is tough to live on -- especially with Pdx's cost of living.
thanks for making that point.
10:30 a.m.
Sep 23, '10
Tough?! If you run the same numbers, but take out tips (say, Rafel's hypothetical person was a dishwasher instead of a waiter), then you end up LOSING $264 every year while working full time.
Minimum wage is simply untenable without significant assistance.
12:57 p.m.
Sep 24, '10
Lots of talk about "minimum" wages, I wonder what Duds thinks about "living" wage concepts?
11:49 p.m.
Sep 21, '10
It seems to me that, although the real number of minimum wage workers is small, the minimum wage acts as a baseline measurement of wages in larger sectors, such as big box retail and services. In my readings when free marketeers attack the minimum wage it's usually part of a package of suggested reforms aimed at lowering wages across the board. Whereas we can question the social morality of a candidate nickel and diming wait-staff over their tips, the real question is if Duds feels that most wages are "artificially" high and in need of adjustment downward. This is Americans for Prosperity argument that flows directly from their attacks on the minimum wage.
10:22 a.m.
Sep 22, '10
Just read an interesting story over on WWeek about a gubernatorial candidates hinky mortgage.
Another case where he can't provide any documentation to support his claims. I can't wait for Carla's extensive expose on this one.
4:14 p.m.
Sep 22, '10
from a friend who works in real estate & knows these kinds of businesses: "Kind of a non-story. Brokerage firms often make these kinds of loans."
you'll note it was the tail-end of the piece; if WW believed there was anything there, they'd have led with it. instead it got buried in a gossip piece.
5:07 p.m.
Sep 22, '10
Katu went with it as their second story
5:31 p.m.
Sep 23, '10
And then they had to quickly backtrack as soon as the documents were produced and numerous people in the industry contradicted the "expert" who said that the loan was unusual.
8:02 p.m.
Sep 23, '10
Nigel surely isn't backtracking one bit. In fact, the documents he is providing are contradicting his own statements, so says wweek.
11:25 a.m.
Sep 22, '10
Of course basketball players (like former Blazer Chris Dudley) make good money: They belong to a UNION that represents them, negotiates for good wages, safe and healthy working conditions, insurance, benefits, and pensions. Why, if those silly waitresses would just join a union like the National Basketball Players Association they would probably make a lot more money and then they would quit sniveling about tips and stuff. It's all here at their website: http://www.nbpa.org/what-we-do
11:32 a.m.
Sep 22, '10
I hope someone gets to ask Duds in a public forum if he thinks average Oregonians should have the same access to union membership that he had when he played in the NBA. Oh wait nobody ever gets to ask him questions in a public forum, that's not how Dud's rolls. Never mind.
11:46 a.m.
Sep 22, '10
Oh wait nobody ever gets to ask him questions in a public forum, that's not how Dud's rolls. Never mind.
Did you watch the video?
1:14 p.m.
Sep 22, '10
How public was that forum? The video looked like a cell phone surreptitiously shooting from behind an i-pad. The remark that Dudley did't want to make this a point of emphasis in his campaign also lends credence to thinking this was not, in his mind, a public forum.
But I really don't know.
9:41 a.m.
Oct 27, '10
Cam Balkon Fiyatları
Anadolu Cam Balkon , Herkesin en çok merak ettiği ve ürün alırken aklını ve zamanını en çok ayırdığı şey fiyattır.
Cam balkon sistemleri m2 mekanın yeri balkonun yeri ve yüksekliği fiyatlandırırken değişkenlik göstermektedir. Her ürünün olduğu gibi cam balkon sistemlerinin de kalitelisi ve kalitesiziz ( düşük maliyetli piyasa malları ) mevcuttur buda fiyatın esnek olmasının başlıca nedenidir.
Cam BalkonSistemleri m2 olarak hesaplanır ve m2 birim fiyatı 160 ile 220 YTL arasında değişir.
Asmalı boy cam ( vitrin camı ) eşiksiz cam sistemleri içinde m2 birim fiyatı 190 ile 250 YTL arası değişmektedir.
Eşiksiz Asmalı boy cam sistemleri ise yine m2 birim fiyatı 230 YTL’dir. (Boy cam sistemleri genellikle cafe, restoran, bar girişlerinde kullanılmaktadır. ) http://www.anadolucambalkon.com
2:32 p.m.
Sep 22, '10
It’s the same old disgusting and despicable song and dance from these morally and ideologically bankrupt Republicans/Conservatives. Waitresses get paid too much...and the same goes for teachers, firefighters, cops, and social workers. Of course, the billionaire CEOs… everything they make they deserve…in fact their taxed to much to pay those greedy fu#%ng public employees living the high life. Phil Knight could really use that money too open up another sweatshop or two…or maybe another multi-million dollar private giant glass study hall for football players. Dudley, his supporters, and his party’s priorities/values are crystal clear…greed is good, profit over people, me first, screw everyone else.
8:43 p.m.
Sep 23, '10
Morally bankrupt is indeed the most accurate description of these policies. It is entirely appropriate to describe in moral terms an attitude and the policies that are justified by it, that dehumanize individual persons, and denigrate their value to the point that they, their children, their families are not allowed to survive, and simply dismissed as not having value, despite the profit they bring to businesses and the entire economy. Dudley has clearly taken his stand with people who exploit the marginalized, and then despise and hold in contempt those workers who make these businesses profitable. And at the same time they worship and defer to the robber barons on Wall St. whose bonuses alone far outstrip the livelihood of thousands of honest workers who wait on tables or take care of the infirm. Dudley is their "boy."
1:03 p.m.
Sep 24, '10
this just in from "Duds World":
Average Hedge Fund Manager Salaries •As of 2008, a junior portfolio manager earned an average salary of $152,744, while a senior manager earned $182,019 as a base salary. While hedge fund manager salaries may seem substantial, many managers work on an incentive basis and look forward to lucrative bonuses at the end of an investment year. These bonuses are generally tied to the performance of the overall fund in a given year. In 2008, average junior portfolio manager bonuses were $492,819, while senior manager bonuses averaged $431,275. Top Hedge Fund Manager Salaries •The top 25 hedge fund manager salaries for 2007 were a combined $22.5 billion, or $900 million each on average, including bonuses. In 2008, a down year for the stock market, the average combined salaries were $11.6 billion, or an average of $464 million apiece.
Read more: Average Salaries for a Hedge Fund Manager | eHow.com http://www.ehow.com/about_6331853_average-salaries-hedge-fund-manager.html#ixzz10TldA8ia
7:52 p.m.
Sep 25, '10
So, the average salary+benefits for an emergency room doctor is $306,406.
So what's your point?
9:42 a.m.
Oct 27, '10
http://www.anadolucambalkon.com