Seattle Business Implements “Living Wage” Fee In Response To New Min. Wage

A parking business in Seattle, Washington is responding to the new forced hike in minimum wage to $15 an hour by implementing a “living wage surchage” to its customers’ bills. The MasterPark at Sea-Tac International Airport instituted the additional 99-cents-per day fee as a way to show the public the effects of voting a higher wage.

“This is one way of business owners getting back at the public and passing on their costs,” stated Eric Colville to the Washington Times, who has been a customer of MasterPark. “I’m sure that they’re going to end up making a pretty good profit from this under the guise of living wage.”

Voters generally fail to understand how raising minimum wages don’t necessarily benefit the community, but the inflationary impact is generally not quite so transparent. Most businesses simply tend to raise prices to compensate, but few businesses would have the courage to do what MasterPark has done and broadcast to the public just exactly the impact their economic illiteracy has on the marketplace.

“MasterPark charges, taxes, and fees include a ‘Living Wage’ surcharge of 99 cents per day,” the company’s website reads. “This is due to the new $15 per hour minimum wage requirement for certain businesses in Sea-Tac. The surcharge covers a portion of the resulting increase in operating costs.”

Inflation is only one predictable response to a forced raise in the minimum wage. Another unseen reaction is the fact that workers who are unskilled are unable to compete for jobs that an employer now has to hire a more experienced worker for. An employer will now be less likely to give an unskilled laborer a chance to gain valuable job experience that is a non-tangible, but important asset for someone who wishes to move up in the labor market.