Minimum wage hikes are tough pills to swallow, but they are a reaction to lack of wage increases over time.
If the lowest wages had followed the s&p or management comp. over the last decades then this would be a non-issue. Weak labor/low organization and the fact that many bought the myth of "trickle down economics" has kept the lowest wages where the 1% wants them.
As for automation: if there are gains from automation they are likely there already. I Mercedes builds cars much differently in the US compared to Germany despite big differences in labor costs.
One difference that is immediately noticeable with high labor costs is not in industry but in services 1) more self-service such as self checkout at grocery store, self-checkin at airport 2) no non-essential services such as greeters, bag-packers, 3) DIY is common
If the lowest wages had followed the s&p or management comp. over the last decades then this would be a non-issue. Weak labor/low organization and the fact that many bought the myth of "trickle down economics" has kept the lowest wages where the 1% wants them.
As for automation: if there are gains from automation they are likely there already. I Mercedes builds cars much differently in the US compared to Germany despite big differences in labor costs.
One difference that is immediately noticeable with high labor costs is not in industry but in services 1) more self-service such as self checkout at grocery store, self-checkin at airport 2) no non-essential services such as greeters, bag-packers, 3) DIY is common