Is the Government Justified in allowing Wage Cuts and Shorter Working Hours?

This is not a socialist country (yet) and the government should not order private businesses to pay their workers more than they can afford. It's this type of government garbage that has given UAW so much power and made it impossible for companies like GM and Chrysler to turn a profit. If government hadn't kept butting into private business affairs we wouldn't be in a financial crisis right now. Businesses have the right to fire anyone they want if their budget is cut. If they can't lower wages they will simply fire the people they can't afford and hire cheaper replacements.

If we will base in on laws I think it's really wrong cause some governments implements a minimum wage rate and it should be followed carefully. So once they lower the rate they must first revised that law. But the workers or some of the workers agrees to this dicission since they want a job even the earning will be cut down rather than nothing at all.

i would think "something is better than nothing"due to recession,many people are losing their jobs and to get a new job is so difficult.i know of some of my friends who are struggling,as many of their incentives have been cut.

I don't know about such labor laws governing the imposition of wages or working hours, but my view is that private establishments and industries are privately run, and their business models are driven by profitability. For them, it is all about making money and survival in whatever the economic climate they are operating in. If the economy is bad and they are not doing well, their management and board of directors have to make key decisions to lower costs by shutting down offices, cutting back on production, reducing wages and bonuses, cutting staff or even retrenching some of them so that they can survive a downturn. They need to be accountable to their shareholders on their performance, and therefore it is prudent that their top management has both the right and responsibility to make the best decision for their companies to keep them afloat. If a company's hands are tied by government legislation forbidding them to take prudent business measures in bad times and end up going down, jobs will be lost and that will be even worse for the working class.

The government does not and should not have control over how private businesses are run. I, personally, would have preferred having my hours cut or my wages reduced than being let go altogether as my company's budget was cut well into the bone. My unemployment benefits, which will eventually run out, are less than half of what I was bringing home every week. When you lose your job you also lose your medical coverage and, considering the cost of providing it for yourself, working less hours or taking a pay cut is still more beneficial to a family in the long run.

I do not think the government should impose these things. Companies should have the freedom to decide how they are going to deal with crisis. Each company is different with different needs. How is lowering peoples hours and pay going to help the economy? They still will not be able to pay their bills or have extra money to spend on products so therefore it is not going to solve the problem. Yes it keeps people employeed but it will not solve the problems of this global ecomony. How long will these people keep their jobs when people continue to not be able to spend? Not long. As companies keep loosing money they will have to either close or cut their over head (laying off people). The key is getting more money to the people so they can pay their bills and buy goods. That in turn will cause the companies to make money and able to keep their staff.

acevivx, IMHO, it is justifiable for the government to allow private establishments and industries to lower wages, impose wage cuts and shorten working hours of their employees to stay viable and survive this challenging period. I do not think this is a rule of the thumb and forced measure for firms to adopt, the government is just permitting this option so that the workers will not loose their much needed jobs. As the saying goes: Something is still better than nothing and I think it is important for these establishments to stay viable to survive and tide over this "economic tsunami". However, if the business is doing well and needs to expand then we would not see these cutbacks at all. For any enterprise will know that amidst of these challenging times, it would be the best time to expand ones venture too. That is if the conditions allow and conducive for such an undertaking. Other than that, it would just be prudent to slow down and not run out of steam prematurely. Cheers.