In a column “In defense of minimum wage”, Sunday News associate editor Gil Smart writes:
“…conservatives appear to be stepping up a long-running campaign against the minimum wage in general, arguing that if we really want to put the unemployed to work — particularly urban youths — we’ll pay everybody less….
“If you’ve ever been to a McDonald’s during peak rush, you know there are often so many workers that they practically trip over one another. That’s a wise strategy — because understaffing means customers may have to wait longer for their food, which means their experience won’t be as positive, which might impact their decision on where to eat next time…
“Indeed, there’s a very real possibility that such businesses wouldn’t hire more workers at all. But they would cut labor costs significantly, resulting in bigger corporate profits, larger dividends for stockholders. And maybe a bigger bonus for the CEO…”
WATCHDOG: Two wags of the tail!
