How can Trump raise wages?

Only unions and laws can raise wages, because employers won't — not unless they're forced to.

UPDATE (12/5/2016) How will wages rise under President Trump? President elect Trump's leading candidate for Labor Secretary is said to be Andrew Puzder, CEO of CKE Restaurants. CKE owns Carl's Jr., where under the administration of President Barack Obama, about 60 percent of all DOL investigations found violations of the Fair Labor Standards Act. Most of these restaurants were owned by franchisees rather than by CKE, reflecting the view of Wage and Hour Administrator David Weil that fast food's franchising model contributes to an unusually high frequency of labor violations. Kendall Fells, organizing director for the Fight for $15, told the American Prospect last week that "Puzder as Labor secretary is like putting Bernie Madoff in charge of the Treasury." Other possibilities for Labor include Rep. Lou Barletta (R-Pa.); Peter Kirsanow, former NLRB Board member under President George W. Bush; and Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-Wash.). We're watching Trump's pick for Homeland Security, too. A few names in the mix: Rep. Michael McCaul (R-Texas); retired Gen. John F. Kelly; former homeland security adviser Francis Townsend; and Kansas Sec. of State Kris Kobach. Retired Rear Admiral Jay Cohen, who was DHS undersecretary of homeland security for science and technology from 2006-2009, visited Trump Tower on Friday.

No matter how low the corporate tax rate is (even if they had NO taxes at all), or how little regulations business have imposed upon them (even if they had NO regulations at all), the "job creators" will never pay a higher wage unless they are forced to --- because they are not charities. PERIOD.

For every dollar they pay you, that is one dollar less in their pockets. They are not in business to SHARE, but to rake in as much profit as they possibly can with as little overhead as possible. PERIOD.

Very rarely does anybody give anything away for free, except for maybe a charitable contribution (sometimes for a tax write-off) or a Christmas present. Employers aren't going to voluntarily pay any more than they absolutely have to. Businesses owners and corporate executives are in business to maximize their profits for themselves and their investors, not to share their profits with their employees.

When people are hired, it's just part of the cost of running their business (like rent and materials). Only federal and State minimum wage laws can FORCE employers to pay a minimum wage — which is almost always well below an actual "living wage".

And only workers represented by a strong labor union can negotiate (coerce) an employer to pay more. Otherwise, those "job creators" are not going to pay any more than they have to. That is why they prefer a lot of slack in the labor market — an over-saturated labor market producing a high unemployment rate — and ever more people "not in the labor force" (Currently the U.S. has 95 million). The more desperate people are for work, the more willing they are to work for less. FACT OF LIFE.

This is why some employers move from one State to another State: Lower wages, anti-union "Right to Work" laws, and tax breaks. This is why some employers use guestworker visas (such as H-1B) to IMPORT JOBS from foreign countries for cheaper labor when they're not offshoring (EXPORTING JOBS) to foreign countries for cheaper labor (and less environmental and safety regulations.)

If Trump is really worth $10 billion today, if he had paid all his hotel employees DOUBLE what they earn now, he might only be worth $5 billion. If he could have paid them HALF as much, maybe he'd be worth $20 billion today. It's all about "sharing" and when business owners will be satisfied with their own personal wealth. Some will never be, just look at the Wal-Mart heirs.

Now see the graphic below and then click on the image below that for a timeline...

For more details in the timeline, click the image below to enlarge...