Letter: McLeod is right on target

As a business owner, of a business that employed several hundred workers over the past seven years, what the Acting PM is saying here is pretty near impossible to refute. And that irrespective of one's political affiliation.

To arbitrarily toss a larger figure out, as the new minimum wage, could cause immense inflationary impact on the economy, with no idea of it even being possible to sustain at this point.

And let us all recognize too, that there are many potential employees and employees out there that will talk of wanting and needing far higher amounts with no intention or expectation of delivering more that the bare minimum of work effort or of dependable good conduct in exchange.

As is so often the case those hoping to be on the receiving end of a pay hike give no thought whatsoever to the impact that must have on the overall economy. To them I believe it is sometimes just a matter of putting their hands deeper into the "boss's" pockets.

As it is ALWAYS the case that bosses are rich, right? Nonsense!

As far back as five years ago, our company was paying as much as $18 to $23 per hour to electricians and plumbers we were hiring, as a starting rate, plus time and a half over forty hours and double time on Sundays, and yet many still found it unnecessary to reliably show up or on time. Or to work reasonably when they did get there.

And frankly, although we had skilled and experienced, hard workers among them, we undeniably also hired some that proved to be far from capable in their alleged trades.

There is never going to be a point at which hourly paid employees universally consider and accept that what they are being paid is right, or appropriate.

Or even in many cases, particularly in a country such as this, that their employers deserve more than minimum effort in exchange for the pay, given.

As an example I was talking with a woman, less that a year ago, who was part of the housekeeping crew at a leading POS hotel. She complained conversationally several times about "Only making twenty dollars an hour".

Now even if she was a reliable worker, a good timekeeper, a hard worker and as experienced as anyone could be in cleaning bedrooms and bathrooms, just how much could that job possibly warrant, that she might have believed to be a good and satisfactory wage?

And irrespective of global inflationary influences on the cost of living, too many wage earners seem to be ignorant of the fact that when their wages go up, most times, (whether fully justified or not), their employer's products and services will increase in price.

And pretty soon those increases will impact on the employee's cost of living, as everybody else's.

Shakespeare said "No man is an island", and this surely applies to economics as to other aspects of life.

John Lindsay | via email