Wages and inflation
EDITOR: The Press Democrat reported: “Just years after labor activists persuaded a handful of states to raise their minimum wage to $15 per hour, workers initially thrilled with the pay bump are finding their hard-won gains erased by inflation” (“Inflation leads to push for $20 minimum wage,” March 29). No one should be surprised. The cost of a product is tied to the cost of labor, materials, utilities, regulation and capital. Increases in cost lead directly to increases in price.
The only way to avoid price increases with an increase in labor costs is to increase productivity. Unfortunately, this is accomplished by replacing a human with a machine. This does not increase wages. It eliminates jobs. Look at fast food restaurants that found it cheaper to have customers fill their own cup rather than hire a person, despite theft.
The community conversation needs to move away from the dog chasing its tail that is the minimum wage debate. It does nothing to help the worker. We need to refocus on job skills as we embrace a new reality of artificial intelligence, robotics and self-driving vehicles.
MIKE MARTINI
Santa Rosa
Israelis defend rights
EDITOR: Thank you for publishing the article about Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu bowing to the demands of Israeli protesters and putting a freeze on a new law that would reduce the Israeli judiciary to a puppet of his administration (“Netanyahu backs down,” March 28). One has to admire the Jewish Israelis...
The Justice Department has fired back at the Southern Poverty Law Center after it filed an injunction against Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche for saying the group didn’t share information from...