I imagine the same argument was made by coal barons who were forced to stop paying in company scrip.

And the industrialists who were forced to stop employing children in their factories.

And the owners who were forced to grant weekends and 8 hour workdays.

We have a long history of protecting workers from exploitation in this country. The weekend, prohibitions on child labor, OSHA standards, PPE, minimum wages, payment in US dollars, anti-discrimination laws, coverage for accidents on site, leaves for illness, etc. etc. etc.

If you think poor workers should make more money, then the government should give it to them. The last thing we should do is make it harder for them to retain a job, or penalize those that have provided the best job they have on offer. Preventing the low skilled from working stunts their career permanently.

It’s due to voters wanting to help people without paying for it.

Goal: help people by increasing the amount of money they have

Politician A: I’m going to help people by increasing taxes and increasing cash given to people

Politician B: I’m going to help people by forcing business to increase pay and therefore keep taxes low.

Voters will choose politician B.

Same thing with higher education:

Politician A: I will help students by funding universities and keeping tuition low, but have to raise taxes.

Politician B: I will help students by increasing the amount of debt they can load up on and I will cut taxes by reducing funding for universities.

Politician B gets elected again.