Wage example flawed

Shawn Vestal’s column proposing that Washington state’s minimum wage law does not reduce employment doesn’t tell the whole story. His burger place example holds up only because everyone there is on minimum wage. In businesses where salaried people are employed, this results in entry-level workers often working fewer hours in less stressful jobs earning more than supervisors.

Additionally, when you use a small sample for your test, i.e., Spokane, the results are not statistically meaningful. In other words, when everyone must pay the same wage, there is no place for the jobs to flee to, so no jobs are lost.

A more valid comparison would be to look to a larger sample. In the past 10 years, Sysco Systems, Buck Knives and Cabela’s all located in Post Falls. Are these jobs lost? They are to Spokane. Those businesses are not paying any taxes here.

Take it up one more notch and consider why most manufacturing and garment jobs have fled the U.S. Minimum wage proponents go to great length to justify their position. So far, the only guy who has had to meet an actual payroll that agrees with them is Floyd Brown. This is a pretty small sample.

Hal R. Dixon

Spokane