Ever since last week, when the NYS wage board recommended increasing the fast food minimum wage to $15 by the end of 2018, everyone online has been flipping out.t I've seen so much complaining on Facebook and Reddit that low skill jobs don't deserve to be paid that much, especially from other people who are in other low paying jobs (skilled and unskilled). Personally I think it's a step in the right direction but:

Seeing this reception makes me question why this wasn't across the board minimum wage hike. The conspiracy theorist in me would say it was aimed at rallying most workers against the idea of any hike (the thought process going "why should a Tim Horton's worker get $15 an hour, when I'm still going to make $10 as a trained paramedic paramedic?") The optimist hopes that it will keep drawing more people's attention to wage inequality - like how for anyone outside the top 20% (of household income), wages have not kept up with productivity and inflation since the 70's!

I've noticed a similar attitude with unions, even from normally liberal people. Those not protected by a union want to know why union workers should be compensated more than a non-union worker, when they also work over 40 hour weeks for no additional benefit. The real question they should be asking is why are they willing to do more for less?
At some point in time, it looks like every worker ended up in a bizarre race to the bottom, where the winner gets to brag about who works the most while getting paid the least.