Companies should be required to post aggregate employee wage data similar to how calories are posted at fast food restaurants

Throughout the 90s and 2000s a slew of regulations required fast food retailers to prominently display basic nutritional info for their products in their establishments. Some, though I’m not sure if the particulars, post this info right next to their menu items. I think most of us can agree this was a net positive for consumers. It made it easier for me to make informed choices related to my health.

However, part of my decision to patronize any retailer (food or otherwise) depends upon how they treat their workers. I try as much as possible to patronize unionized retailers, or failing that, ones that least flagrantly exploit their workers.

I suspect many people are like me. I do my research, as much as possible, but that takes time and effort. Sometimes, the information isn’t readily available. Retailers go to great lengths to hide this info from their own employees, never mind their customers.

I do think there is something – maybe not much, but something – to the argument that market mechanisms (ie non-regulatory or non-legal) approaches to ending labor exploitation can be effective. Standard liberal economic dogma dictates as much, and free market apologists will point to this possibility as an alternative to regulations. However, there is one embarrassingly huge (even for free market libertarian types) flaw in that argument: the efficient operation of markets is predicated on all parties having full information. Ad I mentioned before, the transaction costs to consumers (I.e. the effort or resources it takes to get that information) is exceedingly high for most.

I should be able to make informed choices about the health of our society same as I do for my health. Wage employers with more than, say, five employees should therefore be required to post:

1. Aggregate, location-specific information on hourly wages in a prominent place in all retail locations. Both median-worker data and lowest-paid worker data.

2. Location-specific CEO pay to median-worker pay ratio.

Other information that should be readily accessible upon request at location:

1. Percentage union membership per location.

2. Percentage of employees at location covered by employer health plan, and average deductible, and percentage of premium paid by employer.

Any thoughts? Supporters? Detractors? Any existing state or local efforts along these lines?