Wage Increase Quotes
The left has always been ambivalent about automation. Many object to it on the grounds that it puts men out of work. However, others such as Lafage, argued that automation was the only economic way to reform the working hours and conditions of labor. The problem at the time was that as long as labor was so cheap, there was no motivation for the manufacturer to invest in better machinery. He and many others argued that minimum wages and their increases increase productivity because it would force manufacturers to invest in more productive equipment to reduce their labor costs.
The Director had asked for a small budget at the instructions of President George W. Bush and his budget advisors. The mores of Washington is that a director of a public program must not ask for more money than the President wants that agency to have—even if the person is under oath and testifying. They say that they could not use the money wisely or some such euphemism.
COLA means Cost Of Living Adjustment, where wages, or payments of some kind are increased periodically to keep up with inflation. Most of those who call for COLAs do not claim that they fight inflation. For them the purpose is not to allow a particular group of people to get hurt by inflation. COLAs strictly speaking do not create inflation since they are only activated by inflation that was otherwise created. However, they certainly accelerate the inflation just like every price or wage increase during a time of inflation.
These work hours, 6 days a week were typical for Russian workers of the time. The Russian workers were ripe for any revolution or reform that promised a better life.
