I can tell you didn't look at the link I posted. I am actually quite interested in your reaction to this part, which is the "pro" part of a pro and con summary: ***
Congress last raised the federal minimum wage eight years ago. According to the Economic Policy Institute, a liberal think tank, an estimated 7.3million workers, 5.8 percent of the workforce, would benefit from an increase in the minimum wage. More than one-third of them are parents of children under 18, including 760,000 single mothers. The minimum wage of $5.15 an hour is worth just 33 percent of the average hourly wage of an American worker, and that is its lowest level since 1949. Furthermore, the inflation-adjusted value of the minimum wage of $5.15 an hour was 26 percent lower in 2004 than it was in 1979. Adjusted for inflation, $5.15 today is equivalent to only $4.23 in 1995. Almost 61 percent of low-wage workers are women. Almost 44 percent of low-wage earners work full-time; another 34.5 percent work between 20 and 34 hours per week. A full-time worker earning $5.15 an hour would earn $10,712 a year, well below the 2003 federal poverty line of $14,824 per year for a family of three. Since the federal government last increased the minimum wage in 1997, members of Congress have given themselves $23,000 each in raises. City Councilor Martin Heinrich, whose proposal to raise the minimum wage to $7.15 per hour failed earlier this year, said House Majority leader Tom DeLay (R-Texas) is fond of calling the congressional pay hikes "cost-of-living increases." But the Consumer Price Index has gone up 22 percent since 1997, Heinrich noted. "Where are the cost-of-living increases for the minimum wage workers?" When Santa Fe increased its minimum wage to $8.50 per hour in 2004, the argument was made that it was going to cost the city jobs. But, according to Heinrich, "That simply never occurred." The last six months of 2004 saw Santa Fe gain 200 new jobs in the retail sector and 400 new jobs in food service and drinking establishments. "The very sector of the economy that worked the hardest to kill the Santa Fe law benefited the most from the new minimum wage," Heinrich said. Why? Because, he reasons, low-wage workers are going to spend the extra money, giving the economy a boost. The councilor also points to the decrease in public assistance that resulted with the living wage law. Heinrich met many low-wage workers at the "big-box" retailers when he was drafting his ordinance. "It was utterly clear that there was no way they could not be on public assistance." The kinds of welfare for which minimum wage workers are eligible include food stamps, housing vouchers, medical coverage and cash assistance under the Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF) program. Over the last six months of 2004 there was a 4.9 percent decrease in Santa Fe's TANF caseload, whereas the rest of the state saw a 4.5 percent increase in cash assistance cases. In short, Heinrich believes "big-box" employers are drawing down welfare themselves. When employers pay too little for workers to meet food, housing and health care basics, "You end up subsidizing the labor costs of those low-wage employers," Heinrich said. "The government is actually picking up the tab for a significant portion of the labor force." Let me know what you think. The full article is at www.alibi.com<http://www.alibi.com> thanks Dana On 9/23/05, Gruss Gott <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > > Dana wrote: > > expand -- but I do think that it's good that society is no longer blind > to > > the way we subsidize corporations that take advantage of workers. > > > > Well, I don't like the "take advantage" part. Do you have some good > examples? > > ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~| Discover CFTicket - The leading ColdFusion Help Desk and Trouble Ticket application http://www.houseoffusion.com/banners/view.cfm?bannerid=48 Message: http://www.houseoffusion.com/lists.cfm/link=i:5:174889 Archives: http://www.houseoffusion.com/cf_lists/threads.cfm/5 Subscription: http://www.houseoffusion.com/lists.cfm/link=s:5 Unsubscribe: http://www.houseoffusion.com/cf_lists/unsubscribe.cfm?user=11502.10531.5 Donations & Support: http://www.houseoffusion.com/tiny.cfm/54
