Berkeley Touts $15 Minimum Wage and Then Fires Hundreds of Workers After It Passes

[LowDown]

From the annals of instant karma, because you know all those minimum wage workers were supporting the increase. Five hundred of them lost their jobs.

UC Berkeley Touts $15 Wage Law, Then Fires Hundreds After It Passe | Stock News & Stock Market Analysis - IBD

Ken Jacobs, chairman of the UC Berkeley center, told the Los Angeles Times, “This is a very big deal for low-wage workers in California, for their families and for their children.”

It is a big deal, as well, to those soon to be out of work UC Berkeley workers.

But why is anyone surprised about jobs cuts following a wage hike? It’s one of the most basic laws of economics. Any high school kid taking Econ 101 can explain it: If you raise the price of something, demand goes down.

Except, of course, in liberalandia, where good intentions are all anyone needs. Berkeley was already in financial trouble. It simply could not go further into debt to keep those people employed. Eventually you run out of other people's money.

 

[KevinKohler]

Re: Berkeley Touts $15 Minimum Wage and Then Fires Hundreds of Workers After It Passe

So, they either have less work to be done, or, magically, the workers who are left, are suddenly capable of doing more work.

 

[TobyOne]

Re: Berkeley Touts $15 Minimum Wage and Then Fires Hundreds of Workers After It Passe

Its always the case. Organizations would rather not lay people off. The status quo is preferred - but back them into a corner and they will.

So, they either have less work to be done, or, magically, the workers who are left, are suddenly capable of doing more work.

 

[chuckiechan]

Re: Berkeley Touts $15 Minimum Wage and Then Fires Hundreds of Workers After It Passe

Or they weren't needed in the first place, and due to the new wage cost they were suddenly "discovered" when someone got smacked in the forehead with the monthly labor report.

 

[RJApple]

Re: Berkeley Touts $15 Minimum Wage and Then Fires Hundreds of Workers After It Passe

So, wait, you're saying that the tons of economists who said this very thing would happen if the minimum wage was raised to $15 actually knew what they were talking about? *GASP!*

 

[LowDown]

Re: Berkeley Touts $15 Minimum Wage and Then Fires Hundreds of Workers After It Passe

So, they either have less work to be done, or, magically, the workers who are left, are suddenly capable of doing more work.

It's like at Mizzou where they discovered they could get by with having the lawns edged only twice a week when they got into financial trouble. The lawns might look a little more shaggy, but it couldn't be avoided.

People who have never run an enterprise are always surprised by how elastic labor demand is. Laying off half of the staff always improves the morale of the half that is left.

 

[ocean515]

Re: Berkeley Touts $15 Minimum Wage and Then Fires Hundreds of Workers After It Passe

So, they either have less work to be done, or, magically, the workers who are left, are suddenly capable of doing more work.

Well, logically, it's never the case that there is less work to be done. The decision has more to do with the recognition that less will get done in order to deal with the economic reality they have been forced to deal with.

 

[code1211]

Re: Berkeley Touts $15 Minimum Wage and Then Fires Hundreds of Workers After It Passe

So, they either have less work to be done, or, magically, the workers who are left, are suddenly capable of doing more work.

Or, there are just better ways to do things that have nothing to do with hiring more people.

The problem for the pencil necks in government is that they are always assuming static conditions. The folks in the Make-a-Profit end of the world always look for ways to shake things up and improve the outcome.

In any business performing any function for profit, the outcome most examined is the profitability.

Our government is a wonderful construct. Put in place by themselves, it grinds on doing nothing but aggrandizing those that yearn for power and have no experience. They are overpaid, underperforming, know very little demigods who love to demonstrate that they are superior. In the meantime, those they like to control are so far ahead of them in experience and knowledge that the rules they enact are obsoleted in moments after they are enacted.

Can't make desirable foods using automated methods? Ever had a Snickers?

Dear Striking Fast-Food Workers: Meet The Machine That Just Put You Out Of A Job | Zero Hedge

Finally, for those complaining that there will be no "human touch" left to take the orders, robots have that covered too:


The robot is shown below. It occupies 24 square feet, and is much smaller and efficient than most assembly-line fast-food operations. It provides "gourmet cooking methods never before used in a fast food restaurant" and will deposit the completed burger into a bag. It does all of this without a trace of attitude.

 

[polgara]

Re: Berkeley Touts $15 Minimum Wage and Then Fires Hundreds of Workers After It Passe

Or, there are just better ways to do things that have nothing to do with hiring more people.

The problem for the pencil necks in government is that they are always assuming static conditions. The folks in the Make-a-Profit end of the world always look for ways to shake things up and improve the outcome.

In any business performing any function for profit, the outcome most examined is the profitability.

Our government is a wonderful construct. Put in place by themselves, it grinds on doing nothing but aggrandizing those that yearn for power and have no experience. They are overpaid, underperforming, know very little demigods who love to demonstrate that they are superior. In the meantime, those they like to control are so far ahead of them in experience and knowledge that the rules they enact are obsoleted in moments after they are enacted.

Can't make desirable foods using automated methods? Ever had a Snickers?

Dear Striking Fast-Food Workers: Meet The Machine That Just Put You Out Of A Job | Zero Hedge

Finally, for those complaining that there will be no "human touch" left to take the orders, robots have that covered too:


The robot is shown below. It occupies 24 square feet, and is much smaller and efficient than most assembly-line fast-food operations. It provides "gourmet cooking methods never before used in a fast food restaurant" and will deposit the completed burger into a bag. It does all of this without a trace of attitude.

Greetings, Code1211. :2wave:

We don't have those yet in my part of NE Ohio that I'm aware of, but your comment that all the work is done without a trace of attitude sure earned a chuckle from me! :thumbs:

 

[Greenbeard]

Re: Berkeley Touts $15 Minimum Wage and Then Fires Hundreds of Workers After It Passe

A week after California Gov. Jerry Brown signed the state’s $15 minimum wage boost into law, UC Berkeley Chancellor Nicholas Dirks sent a memo to employees announcing that 500 jobs were getting cut.

Coincidence? Not really.

Last year, University of California President Janet Napolitano announced plans to boost its minimum wage to $15 at the start of next school year, independent of the state law.

...so the timing is coincidence.

Anyway, it sounds like they're eliminating positions by attrition over a two-year period, not "firing hundreds" as this headline erroneously claims.

 

[Socrates1]

Re: Berkeley Touts $15 Minimum Wage and Then Fires Hundreds of Workers After It Passe

From the annals of instant karma, because you know all those minimum wage workers were supporting the increase. Five hundred of them lost their jobs.

UC Berkeley Touts $15 Wage Law, Then Fires Hundreds After It Passe | Stock News & Stock Market Analysis - IBD



Except, of course, in liberalandia, where good intentions are all anyone needs. Berkeley was already in financial trouble. It simply could not go further into debt to keep those people employed. Eventually you run out of other people's money.

Don't you just love the way liberals flip ? :roll: They have no clue what's in store for them in the job market ! :lamo

 

[mike2810]

Re: Berkeley Touts $15 Minimum Wage and Then Fires Hundreds of Workers After It Passe

From the OP linked article.

"Last year, University of California President Janet Napolitano announced plans to boost its minimum wage to $15 at the start of next school year, independent of the state law. Since UC Berkeley was already in financial trouble — it ran a $109 million deficit last year and is projecting a deficit of $150 million this year — number crunchers there had to have factored in the higher mandated wage when making their layoff decisions."

We have an organization that was $109M in debt last year and a project $150M this year for $259M total going into next fiscal year.

Going to $15/hr and keeping and not reducing staff is going to correct that deficit, right?.:mrgreen:

 

[Socrates1]

Re: Berkeley Touts $15 Minimum Wage and Then Fires Hundreds of Workers After It Passe

From the annals of instant karma, because you know all those minimum wage workers were supporting the increase. Five hundred of them lost their jobs.

UC Berkeley Touts $15 Wage Law, Then Fires Hundreds After It Passe | Stock News & Stock Market Analysis - IBD



Except, of course, in liberalandia, where good intentions are all anyone needs. Berkeley was already in financial trouble. It simply could not go further into debt to keep those people employed. Eventually you run out of other people's money.

So they fight for $15 an hour then , realize they can't afford it , so they FIRE 500 , this is today's higher level thinking ! :lamo


" Words mean nothing to liberals. They say whatever will help advance their cause at the moment, switch talking points in a heartbeat, and then act indignant if anyone uses the exact same argument they were using five minutes ago." — Ann Coulter

 

[KevinKohler]

Re: Berkeley Touts $15 Minimum Wage and Then Fires Hundreds of Workers After It Passe

Or, there are just better ways to do things that have nothing to do with hiring more people.

The problem for the pencil necks in government is that they are always assuming static conditions. The folks in the Make-a-Profit end of the world always look for ways to shake things up and improve the outcome.

In any business performing any function for profit, the outcome most examined is the profitability.

Our government is a wonderful construct. Put in place by themselves, it grinds on doing nothing but aggrandizing those that yearn for power and have no experience. They are overpaid, underperforming, know very little demigods who love to demonstrate that they are superior. In the meantime, those they like to control are so far ahead of them in experience and knowledge that the rules they enact are obsoleted in moments after they are enacted.

Can't make desirable foods using automated methods? Ever had a Snickers?

Dear Striking Fast-Food Workers: Meet The Machine That Just Put You Out Of A Job | Zero Hedge

Finally, for those complaining that there will be no "human touch" left to take the orders, robots have that covered too:


The robot is shown below. It occupies 24 square feet, and is much smaller and efficient than most assembly-line fast-food operations. It provides "gourmet cooking methods never before used in a fast food restaurant" and will deposit the completed burger into a bag. It does all of this without a trace of attitude.

Are you suggesting that such automation would not come to pass sans minimum wage?

 

[code1211]

Re: Berkeley Touts $15 Minimum Wage and Then Fires Hundreds of Workers After It Passe

Are you suggesting that such automation would not come to pass sans minimum wage?

Not in the slightest. However, if the minimum wage is higher, then the number of labor hours reduced to pay for the one time outlay is easier to justify.

If the touch screen kiosk costs $5000 and the hourly wage is $1.00, then that's a whole lot of hours to save to pay for the kiosk.

If the hourly wage is $5000 and the kiosk price is $5000 then the choice is a no-brainer.

I think it will happen in all applications very soon. At the Olive Garden, the last time I was there, there was a tablet on a little stand on the table that I could use to order if I wanted to. Being a dinosaur who like to talk to the pretty young ladies in the wait staff, I waited for the human being to show up. Also left her a tip.

I like human beings. In the near future, ordering using a human transcriber will be viewed as a marker of a higher class place. I imagine that any place where you have to stand up when you order will not have human beings working at the counter.

I remember when a guy never got out of his car to gas up. At that time, with a fill up, you got a free glass the you could eventually make a set of. I haven't had an attendant pump gas for me in at least 30 years. Free glass? Right...

The world changes.

 

[Deuce]

Re: Berkeley Touts $15 Minimum Wage and Then Fires Hundreds of Workers After It Passe

Not in the slightest. However, if the minimum wage is higher, then the number of labor hours reduced to pay for the one time outlay is easier to justify.

If the touch screen kiosk costs $5000 and the hourly wage is $1.00, then that's a whole lot of hours to save to pay for the kiosk.

If the hourly wage is $5000 and the kiosk price is $5000 then the choice is a no-brainer.

I think it will happen in all applications very soon. At the Olive Garden, the last time I was there, there was a tablet on a little stand on the table that I could use to order if I wanted to. Being a dinosaur who like to talk to the pretty young ladies in the wait staff, I waited for the human being to show up. Also left her a tip.

I like human beings. In the near future, ordering using a human transcriber will be viewed as a marker of a higher class place. I imagine that any place where you have to stand up when you order will not have human beings working at the counter.

I remember when a guy never got out of his car to gas up. At that time, with a fill up, you got a free glass the you could eventually make a set of. I haven't had an attendant pump gas for me in at least 30 years. Free glass? Right...

The world changes.

In what universe are those kiosks going to cost $5000?

 

[KevinKohler]

Re: Berkeley Touts $15 Minimum Wage and Then Fires Hundreds of Workers After It Passe

Not in the slightest. However, if the minimum wage is higher, then the number of labor hours reduced to pay for the one time outlay is easier to justify.

If the touch screen kiosk costs $5000 and the hourly wage is $1.00, then that's a whole lot of hours to save to pay for the kiosk.

If the hourly wage is $5000 and the kiosk price is $5000 then the choice is a no-brainer.

I think it will happen in all applications very soon. At the Olive Garden, the last time I was there, there was a tablet on a little stand on the table that I could use to order if I wanted to. Being a dinosaur who like to talk to the pretty young ladies in the wait staff, I waited for the human being to show up. Also left her a tip.

I like human beings. In the near future, ordering using a human transcriber will be viewed as a marker of a higher class place. I imagine that any place where you have to stand up when you order will not have human beings working at the counter.

I remember when a guy never got out of his car to gas up. At that time, with a fill up, you got a free glass the you could eventually make a set of. I haven't had an attendant pump gas for me in at least 30 years. Free glass? Right...

The world changes.

Servers make LESS than minimum wage, and are being replaced with robots.


So....the argument that increasing minimum wage will increase the adaptation of automation is kinda busted, IMO.

 

[KevinKohler]

Re: Berkeley Touts $15 Minimum Wage and Then Fires Hundreds of Workers After It Passe

In what universe are those kiosks going to cost $5000?

They'll cost that much because the only supplier for them for a while will be someone like Cisco, and that company has a monopoly on most things food service. Microwaves for food service cost over 10 times what a home use microwave costs. Apply that same math to a computer.

 

[code1211]

Re: Berkeley Touts $15 Minimum Wage and Then Fires Hundreds of Workers After It Passe

In what universe are those kiosks going to cost $5000?

We are using something like these where I work and the whole installation costs about $5000 and there is a monthly charge to connect to the internet. Nation wide, we are operating about 1700 to date.

The pricing has stayed pretty flat, but the capabilities keep expanding.

So, I suppose, this Universe.

Did you think this price was high or low?

 

[code1211]

Re: Berkeley Touts $15 Minimum Wage and Then Fires Hundreds of Workers After It Passe

Servers make LESS than minimum wage, and are being replaced with robots.


So....the argument that increasing minimum wage will increase the adaptation of automation is kinda busted, IMO.

Busted or not, it's happening.

 

[Deuce]

Re: Berkeley Touts $15 Minimum Wage and Then Fires Hundreds of Workers After It Passe

We are using something like these where I work and the whole installation costs about $5000 and there is a monthly charge to connect to the internet. Nation wide, we are operating about 1700 to date.

The pricing has stayed pretty flat, but the capabilities keep expanding.

So, I suppose, this Universe.

Did you think this price was high or low?

An ipad with a wifi connection can perform the task. That's a gap the market will fill, with or without minimum wage hikes.

 

[ludin]

Re: Berkeley Touts $15 Minimum Wage and Then Fires Hundreds of Workers After It Passe

Well, logically, it's never the case that there is less work to be done. The decision has more to do with the recognition that less will get done in order to deal with the economic reality they have been forced to deal with.

they will get more done in order to not be the next fired.

 

[ludin]

Re: Berkeley Touts $15 Minimum Wage and Then Fires Hundreds of Workers After It Passe

So they fight for $15 an hour then , realize they can't afford it , so they FIRE 500 , this is today's higher level thinking ! :lamo


" Words mean nothing to liberals. They say whatever will help advance their cause at the moment, switch talking points in a heartbeat, and then act indignant if anyone uses the exact same argument they were using five minutes ago." — Ann Coulter

but it feels good to pay those that weren't fired 15 an hour.
we dont' care about logic or anything just feelings and how people feel

 

[ludin]

Re: Berkeley Touts $15 Minimum Wage and Then Fires Hundreds of Workers After It Passe

Servers make LESS than minimum wage, and are being replaced with robots.


So....the argument that increasing minimum wage will increase the adaptation of automation is kinda busted, IMO.

no servers make minimum wage or more.
that is the law. they don't make less than minimum wage.

 

[Socrates1]

Re: Berkeley Touts $15 Minimum Wage and Then Fires Hundreds of Workers After It Passe

but it feels good to pay those that weren't fired 15 an hour.
we dont' care about logic or anything just feelings and how people feel

what kind of perverted logic is that ? :lamo