Clearly, 'wage gouging' is in the eye of the beholder. Mr. Busler simply asserts that the workers are asking for too much. He offers no data to assert the asked-for increases are gouging. He just says they are. But of course conservatives always want to keep workers living on a pittance and desperate. It's been that way for centuries.
Quote: “Profit margins expanded for a second consecutive quarter, up 0.3 percentage points to 12.2 percent of GDP as faster productivity kept a tight lid on unit labor costs,” - EY economist Lydia Boussour.
Then there's this from the EPI.org.
Quote: " Since the trough of the COVID-19 recession in the second quarter of 2020, overall prices in the NFC sector have risen at an annualized rate of 6.1%—a pronounced acceleration over the 1.8% price growth that characterized the pre-pandemic business cycle of 2007–2019. Strikingly, over half of this increase (53.9%) can be attributed to fatter profit margins, with labor costs contributing less than 8% of this increase. This is not normal. From 1979 to 2019, profits only contributed about 11% to price growth and labor costs over 60%, as shown in Figure A below. Nonlabor inputs—a decent indicator for supply-chain snarls—are also driving up prices more than usual in the current economic recovery."
And this: In 2023, PepsiCo’s chief financial officer said that even though inflation was dropping, its prices would not be. Pepsi hiked its prices by double digits and announced plans to keep them high in 2024.[3]
Near-monopoly power. Just four companies now control processing of 80% of beef, nearly 70% of pork, and almost 60% of poultry. So of course it’s easy for them to coordinate price increases.[3]
The problem goes well beyond the grocery store. In 75% of US industries, fewer companies now control more of their markets than they did 20 years ago.[3]
In the food sector, the near monopoly power of the middlemen such as the meat industry- these monopolists squeeze the actual farmers on the front end and then pile added costs to the grocery stores who are forced to raise prices. People feel it when they buy milk, eggs and beef and want to blame grocers, but profit margins in the grocery industry are notoriously thin, typically ranging from 1% to 3% of revenue. Mr Busler's GOP allies have done NOTHING to address market consolidation and near-monopoly activies. Teddy Roosevelt is spinning in his grave. At least the Biden administration is combatting this kind of consolidation.[5]
It's not 'wage gouging' if workers want to actually realize the fruits of their labor! In other words, as usual in the USA economy, labor is NOT getting the results of its increased productivity.[6] "Workers have not benefited from productivity growth in almost four decades."
And automation is a real concern. "automation is likely to have widespread effects. Researchers estimate that anywhere from 9% to 47% of jobs could be automated in the future."[7] Workers left behind by lack of good paying jobs, due to losses by way of automation or outsourcing, often end up in low paying jobs due to the flimsly safety net this nation has saddled workers with for decades. Middle class workers forced into trying to make a living on unsustainable minimum wage jobs while conservatives continue to claim minimum wage is for kids and people "starting out" in the work force. This is the exact OPPOSITE of FDR's view in which minimum wage was always meant to be a LIVEABLE wage![8] "Contrary to what some opponents of the "living wage" minimum wage may argue today, there is no question FDR intended for the minimum wage to support the wages of fully employed adult men and women working in professional trades, not merely teenagers working part-time jobs or those in entry-level positions."
[1]
https://thehill.com/business/4561631-corporate-hit-record-high-as-economy-boomed-in-fourth-quarter-of-2023/#:~:text=Adjusted%20profits%20after%20taxes%20hit,expectations%20of%20around%203.3%20percent.
[2]
[3]
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2024/apr/11/companies-inflation-price-gouging
[4]
https://pos.toasttab.com/blog/on-the-line/how-much-do-grocery-stores-make#:~:text=Profit%20margins%20in%20the%20grocery,pricing%20strategy%2C%20and%20inventory%20management.
[5]
https://www.politico.com/news/2023/07/19/biden-administration-mergers-00106970
[6]
https://www.epi.org/news/workers-benefited-productivity-growth-decades/#:~:text=EPI%20News-,Workers%20have%20not%20benefited%20from%20productivity%20growth%20in%20almost%20four,prices%20of%20things%20workers%20produce.
[7]
[8]
https://publicpolicy.pepperdine.edu/blog/posts/what-did-fdr-mean-by-a-living-wage.htm
