Not being a rich person, I can see thinking that the rich big business scions should pay their workers more, because they can afford it!!! I want everyone to receive a living wage!
Perhaps, though, that is just my emotions jumping into the situation. The big guy has too much. The little guy doesn't have enough.
After years of hard work, scrimping and saving, my husband and I were able to open a small restaurant in Western Montana in the early 90s. We buy a lot of our beef locally, I grow produce for the restaurant, and we hire locally. We donate locally. We are a benefit to our community.
My husband died 3 years ago. My daughter now runs the restaurant. She and her children, as well as myself, are dependent on that small business, as are our 19 employees.
If the minimum wage goes to $15 in Montana, these things will probably happen:
1. The high school kids we hire, who wash dishes and clean off tables will be making the same amount of money as our cooks - with 5, 10, or more years of experience. (Unless we raise their wages too! A HUGE financial drain on our small business!)
2. The price of - oh, say a hamburger - will go up to around $13 to $15. That's way out of range for someone on a fixed income, (like myself) or someone whose wages did NOT go up, and they were barely making it before.
3. The opportunities that our restaurant provided for high schoolers to have a job - will be severely curtailed. To take up the slack, I'll be washing dishes. My daughter will work 70 hours instead of 60 a week. We won't be able to afford our employees.
4. Donations from us to our community will, out of necessity, be slashed!
The one bright spot might be, that if we cannot keep the restaurant open, my daughter might be able to find a job that will pay her $15 an hour - if there are still any small businesses left in the Bitterroot Valley. (I probably won't be able to though. You might pay a 17 year old kid $15 an hour, but not a disabled woman in her 70s.)
