Global International minimum wage plan Nolan 13, (Hamilton, journalist for an International Minimum gawker.com, “We Need Wage,” 5/22/13, ) [PDI] let's put money directly into the pockets of workers. So let's do the next best thing: that (Conservatives are always telling us that individuals are better at solving their own problems than government, anyhow.) The world's biggest corporations pocket billions impoverished every year by avoiding taxes internationally. Governments aren't able to get that money back. But the workers—the garment workers in Bangladesh sewing t-shirts for Wal-Mart, the harried FoxConn workers in China making iPhones, the faceless and forgotten and unseen low-paid factory workers around the world who live in penury so that we can enjoy cheaply manufactured goods—can get that money back themselves, through a wage increase. Wage increases cannot be avoided with armies of tax lawyers. Give A global minimum wage, set to a the workers more money, and they will pay more local taxes. Two birds with one stone. level at which humans might be able to actually live a minimally acceptable lifestyle. Yes, it can be pegged to each nation's cost of living; and no, it doesn't have to be extravagant. But it has to be enough to make life worth living. It has to be more than what we have now: wages that guarantee persistent poverty.¶ This We can pass a law saying doesn't require the passage of laws in every single country around the world. We can do it ourselves. simply that any multinational corporation of [X] size that wishes to sell goods in America must pay all of its employees and subcontractors a minimally acceptable wage. Companies that don't wish to abandon the American market—virtually all of them—would comply. Once some major European nations signed on as well, the law would be as good as global, because to avoid it would mean forsaking too much of the consumer market.¶ Prices would rise a bit. That's okay. We would never countenance buying goods produced with slave labor, just because they were cheap. We should not countenance buying goods produced by workers sentenced to a life of poverty and hopelessness, either.
Global International minimum wage plan Nolan 13, (Hamilton, journalist for gawker.com, “We Need an International Minimum Wage,” 5/22/13, ) [PDI] So let's do the next best thing: let's put that money directly into the pockets of workers. (Conservatives are always telling us that individuals are better at solving their own problems than government, anyhow.) The world's biggest corporations pocket billions every year by avoiding taxes internationally. Governments aren't able to get that money back. But the workers—the impoverished garment workers in Bangladesh sewing t-shirts for Wal-Mart, the harried FoxConn workers in China making iPhones, the faceless and forgotten and unseen low-paid factory workers around the world who live in penury so that we can enjoy cheaply manufactured goods—can get that money back themselves, through a wage increase. Wage increases cannot be avoided with armies of tax lawyers. Give the workers more money, and they will pay more local taxes. Two birds with one stone. A global minimum wage, set to a level at which humans might be able to actually live a minimally acceptable lifestyle. Yes, it can be pegged to each nation's cost of living; and no, it doesn't have to be extravagant. But it has to be enough to make life worth living. It has to be more than what we have now: wages that guarantee persistent poverty.¶ This doesn't require the passage of laws in every single country around the world. We can do it ourselves. We can pass a law saying simply that any multinational corporation of [X] size that wishes to sell goods in America must pay all of its employees and subcontractors a minimally acceptable wage. Companies that don't wish to abandon the American market—virtually all of them—would comply. Once some major European nations signed on as well, the law would be as good as global, because to avoid it would mean forsaking too much of the consumer market.¶ Prices would rise a bit. That's okay. We would never countenance buying goods produced with slave labor, just because they were cheap. We should not countenance buying goods produced by workers sentenced to a life of poverty and hopelessness, either.