International Workers' Day, Worker Exploitation, and the Necessity of Minimum Wage

Yesterday was International Workers' Day. Two concepts that are almost inseparable from this holiday are exploitation and minimum wage. These terms are mostly used in the context of worker exploitation and protection, but no one ever questions whether and to what extent workers are actually exploited, or whether a minimum wage  is even necessary. 

The Slovenian Dictionary defines exploitation as: 

"giving someone too little compensation for the work they do" 

This is fundamentally wrong, as this statement/definition can only hold true if the worker is forced to work. However, in 99.9% of cases, the worker chooses to do a particular job voluntarily. 

A counter-argument could be "but the worker has no choice but to work, otherwise they will starve" This argument is not valid, as it implies that the latter scenario is worse. How can one be exploited if they are in a better situation? 

The main argument for a minimum wage is that it should provide workers with a minimum standard of living and protect them from "exploitation." Exploitation cannot occur if work is done voluntarily. 

However, a job and therefore the pay does not exist because the worker needs the pay to survive, but because there is a need for the work to be done. Therefore, the minimum wage should not be based on what the worker needs to live, but on how much the individual work is worth. 

In a market economy, prices, as well as wages, are formed on the basis of "supply and demand." Supply is therefore the amount of products, services, or workers on the market, and demand is the amount of products, services, or labor that people want or need. If supply exceeds demand, the price will be lower, but if demand exceeds supply, the price will be high because demand is high and supply is limited. 

Consequences of Minimum Wage 

When the minimum wage is raised, several things can happen. When the minimum wage is raised, worker productivity remains the same, so the employer must raise prices to make up for lost productivity and thus nullify the effect of the minimum wage. Second, the employer can automate the job and replace the worker with a robot, as McDonald's does, for example. Third, the employer cannot raise prices and/or automate the job, so the business closes and customers are left without a product and the worker without a job. 

Finally, I have a question for you. Almost all prices of products, services and also all wages are formed in the market, except the minimum wage and the wage in the public sector, and the only thing that the market is not capable of determining is the value of work when we talk about minimum wages.