Keep raising the wage floor!

Products with integrity...

According to TheGuardian, Amazon raised the minimum wage across warehouses and Whole Foods stores to $15. One of the main arguments against raising wages is always that hours will be cut. So, Whole Foods cut working hours to compensate. All of this is predictable behavior, but at the same time, Yahoo Finance says, "Thanks to the new Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA), Amazon’s federal tax responsibility is 21% (down from 35% in previous years). But with the help of tax breaks, according to corporate filings, Amazon won’t be paying a dime to Uncle Sam despite posting more than $11.2 billion in profits in 2018."

So, Whole Foods, a store whose workers can't realistically afford to buy their own goods, will cut hours, meaning their (generally high-earning) patrons will be waiting longer for service. One user mentioned having to make room for employee shoppers who are gathering goods for home delivery orders. The long-con here is that customers with time constraints will then switch to Prime Fresh and get Whole Foods delivered to them. I won't be surprised if Amazon beats $11.2B this year, but no one is doing anything useful with those profits. I think the argument against raising wages comes with the complete acceptance that companies will behave this way, but the largest ones really don't have to, not with such huge coffers.

Shout out to Trader Joes for having happy employees who, while not millionaires by any stretch, can at least afford to shop at their own stores. In the same way you can't leave Costco without muffins, I can't leave TJs without lava cakes.