We are working on a brand new version of the game! If you want to stay informed, read our blog and register for our mailing list.
Bill: Minimum Wage Regulations
Details
Submitted by[?]: Høyre (Right Vote!)
Status[?]: defeated
Votes: This is an ordinary bill. It requires more yes votes than no votes. This bill will not pass any sooner than the deadline.
Voting deadline: March 3912
Description[?]:
Proposals
Article 1
Proposal[?] to change The nation's policy on minimum wage regulation.
Old value:: There shall be a minimum wage at a level considered a "living wage," well above the poverty line for a full time worker.
Current: There shall be a minimum wage at a level that a full time worker on it can support a family of four without falling under the poverty line.
Proposed: There shall be a minimum wage at a level that a single full time worker on it can adequately subsist.
Debate
These messages have been posted to debate on this bill:
| Date | 10:01:19, September 23, 2015 CET | From | Folkepartiet (People's Party) | To | Debating the Minimum Wage Regulations |
| Message | Mr. Speaker, This is quite frankly an assault on family values. By changing the minimum wage to a single-worker subsistence income, the Right is in effect going even further than the Left in encouraging women to work: a laudable aim, but not if it's forced and not if men and women are given no choice to be there for their families. The ability to choose to be with your family should not be a luxury affordable only to people above the minimum wage. These are not slackers, Mr. Speaker, these are hard-working men and women who often take pride in their work as well. Nelline Opland FP Leader |
| Date | 10:06:01, September 23, 2015 CET | From | Borgerlig-Demokratiske Union | To | Debating the Minimum Wage Regulations |
| Message | Mr Speaker, obviously not every worker has a family to support, and minimum wage levels such as this restrict access to entry-level jobs and disproportionately hurt younger workers, whose skills do frequently not yet suffice to earn the kind of wage decreed by the state in economic terms. If we want to support families, then we should look to supplementary measures such as means-tested child benefit and, even more importantly, tax cuts, as these do not hurt employment, in contrast to the current minimum wage policy. Johan Theisen FV Parliamentary Leader |
| Date | 10:16:06, September 23, 2015 CET | From | Høyre (Right Vote!) | To | Debating the Minimum Wage Regulations |
| Message | Mr. Speaker, current minimum wage level creates pressure on the economy. Why? 1. If business must pay their minimum wage employees more, they cannot afford to hire as many employees. According to a Central Bank of Kazulia study, “10 percent increase in the minimum wage lowers low skill employment by 2 to 4 percent and total restaurant employment by 1 to 3 percent.” Or instead of hiring fewer employees, the company may start outsourcing jobs to employees in countries that are willing to work for much less, resulting in fewer jobs for Kazulians. 2. If minimum wage stay as it is, overly qualified individuals will be vying for minimum wage positions, pushing younger, inexperienced workers out of the running and robbing them of their opportunity to gain experience and knowledge to build a resume for themselves and enter the workforce. 3. Employers might raise prices of their product in order to generate enough income to support their more highly paid minimum wage employees, which could ultimately create a ripple effect for other shops and industries, resulting in a slightly higher cost of living, resulting in another push to raise minimum wage again. 4.If an employer has a tight compensation budget and the minimum wage stay as it is or get raised, it means they can no longer compensate the same number of employees at a higher rate and must make layoffs to remain within budget. So, while some employees may be making slightly more money, others will be left unemployed. Thank you! Tobias Falk Minister of Economy and Competitiveness |
| Date | 13:41:06, September 23, 2015 CET | From | Sivilisasjonspartiet | To | Debating the Minimum Wage Regulations |
| Message | Herr Talman, We will not lower the standards of our least well of to face competition from impoverished Gao Showan nations. Instead, we should encourage people to buy Kazulisk, and the state institutions should be an example of this. Axel Blomberg Parliamentary group leader (SP) |
| Date | 13:46:32, September 23, 2015 CET | From | Folkepartiet (People's Party) | To | Debating the Minimum Wage Regulations |
| Message | *Finn Martinsen, Folkepartiet's Trade and Industry Spokesman, returns, having inconspicuously walked out of the debating chamber as Blomberg started speaking* Herr Talman, (OOC: That's Mr Speaker in Norwegian then, SC?) The living wage has been this way for a long time. Surely our employers are perfectly accustomed to it by now. I know many medium and small business holders up and down the country who have always thought it right to pay a living wage to their employees, and are getting along perfectly fine. What evidence is there to suggest the living wage is bringing our businesses into trouble? Perhaps a reform we could consider is to hand over establishing control of the living wage to the social partners, allowing trade unions and employers' associations to share in the government's responsibility for setting it. This will allow for a more dynamic living wage, while still protecting against working poverty because of the legal guidelines set. Finn Martinsen (FP - Dreton) Trade and Industry Spokesman |
| Date | 16:47:41, September 23, 2015 CET | From | Borgerlig-Demokratiske Union | To | Debating the Minimum Wage Regulations |
| Message | Mr Speaker, even though the minimum wage has been in place for a long time and even though businesses certainly did their best to adjust to the laws however restrictive they are, that doesn't mean that we wouldn't still be better off if the law were changed. We are open to getting the state out of industrial relations and are open to devolving this business to employers and their employees themselves. However, we must be careful that this does not empower union bosses over individual workers - instead of having collective wage agreements, there should be the possibility of individual agreements in each single company, designed for the specific situation in a given case. Johan Theisen FV Parliamentary Leader |
| Date | 10:39:07, September 24, 2015 CET | From | Folkepartiet | To | Debating the Minimum Wage Regulations |
| Message | Herr President, This sort of right wing nonsense economics should certainly have been expected, though I am saddened to see Dei Grøne fall onto the wrong side of this argument. It has long been seen and agreed in the world of Economics the benefits that more equal nations see. They see less crime, they see happier citizens, they see better health, they see - indeed - a stronger economy. What we can take from that, and from the actions of the Government, is that the Government is against each of those things, can we not? To take money from the pockets of our citizens is an absolute outrage. What we will see is a slow down in consumption, which will have a knock on effect on employment, which will have a knock on effect on consumption and so on and so forth until the economy unravels. Herr President, the Government may choose to use economics as a cover for their actions, but allow me to assure the people of our nation that Economics plays no part in this decision. This is an ideological decision, and it gives a good look at what lies behind the smiling faces of our dear cabinet. No Heart, Herr President, no heart. Siri Hægeland SF Finance Spokesperson |
| Date | 11:30:42, September 24, 2015 CET | From | Borgerlig-Demokratiske Union | To | Debating the Minimum Wage Regulations |
| Message | Mr Speaker, "to take money from the pockets of our citizens is an absolute outrage" is a sentence that deserves nothing more than laughter and ridicule if uttered by a socialist. People like the hon. lady are responsible for the fact that our citizens have to give up to 65% of their legitimately earned income to the state, which hurts job creation and the consumption that she apparently considers the sole determinant of economic growth in line with orthodox Metzist doctrine much more than an adjustment of the minimum wage. But what use is there for a high minimum wage if it only nominally boosts income, but in reality, combined with high taxes and anti-business regulations, reduces employment and production leading to lower output or higher prices to compensate for the artificial wage increases legislated by the state which do not correspond to economic reality? There is none, there is just the negative side-effect of having lower real wages by creating price inflation. A party that is so keen of lecturing others about economics should know better than that, and it is embarrassing how frequently they have displayed stunning ignorance in this house on all things economic while at the same time accusing the government of incompetence. Johan Theisen FV Parliamentary Leader |
| Date | 11:45:00, September 24, 2015 CET | From | Folkepartiet | To | Debating the Minimum Wage Regulations |
| Message | Herr President, I should remind the right honourable gentleman, perhaps, that the economics is no science. Yes, there are numbers behind it, but beyond that there is little scientific about it. If we were to exit this chamber and ask 17 different economics for an answer to the question of "what effect does this minimum wage law have on its citizenry" we would receive - roughly - 25 different replies. The right honourable gentleman has no greater right to lecture myself or my party on economics than I have him. And, naturally, I seek not to do so. I seek merely to point out that perhaps FV should give up their pretence of Economics as excuses for their attack against our citizens, and give us the true reason. Greed, greed and more greed by the fat cats who run and own them. Siri Hægeland SF Finance Spokesperson |
subscribe to this discussion - unsubscribe
Voting
| Vote | Seats | |||||
| yes |
Total Seats: 59 | |||||
| no |
Total Seats: 80 | |||||
| abstain | Total Seats: 0 |
| Random fact: The grey space in the east is populated by the forum-based countries, known in-game as the former colonies or the "Third World". These countries are managed by the Third World Coordinator but players can request control of individual countries in the Third World Control Requests thread: http://forum.particracy.net/viewtopic.php?f=11&t=8302 |
| Random quote: "Those looking for ideology in the White House should consider this: for the men who rule our world, rules are for other people." - Naomi Klein |