Living wage

What is a "living wage?"

Here is how most dictionaries define a "living wage:"

liv·ing wage

noun

noun: living wage; plural noun: living wages

1. 1.

   a wage that is high enough to maintain a normal standard of living.

But, is this definition sufficient to explain what we are fighting for?

What is missing from this definition when it comes to our livelihoods and our struggles for a real living wage?

Think about this; what is missing?

What is missing is the fact that a living wage can only be defined and considered in relation to:

"cost-of-living"

There is only one way to define what is a living wage and this is to compare wages to "cost-of-living."

For working people wages earned mean absolutely nothing except in relation to what can be purchased with wages.

Employers will always run away from any discussion which becomes focused on what workers can purchase with the wages they pay.

Compare your wages to the price you pay for the necessities required for and decent life--- your "cost-of-living":

food
clothing
housing
transportation
insurance
electricity
home heating fuels
gas for your car
health care
education
recreation
toys for the kids
... and so on and so forth--- the list goes on and on.

The United States Department of Labor's Bureau of Labor Statistics breaks all this down into 8 categories and 200 sub-categories; often we don't keep track of our actual "cost-of-living" in this detailed way. A lot of people, including our own government and the employers (one and the same thing?), would rather we not track and follow the actual expenses we have which taken together is our "cost-of-living." 

Why should anyone have to work at any job and be paid less than the actual "cost-of-living" by any employer?

Don't be tricked by the employers and the politicians these employers' lobbyists bribe along with the polical hacks and Wall Street employed linguists, also known as pundits, who twist and pervert the meaning of words like "living wage."

Are you being paid a real "living wage?"

Determine your "cost-of-living" and you will find the answer to this question.

The State of Minnesota's Department of Labor and Industry created this report on the "Minimum Wage;" it doesn't even use the term "cost-of-living:"

https://www.dli.mn.gov/RS/PDF/13minwage.pdf

Here is a "Letter to the Editor" I wrote on the struggle for a real living Minimum Wage:

http://www.superiortelegram.com/content/miserly-minimum-wage-creates-poverty-0

Miserly minimum wage creates poverty

By Alan L. Maki from director of organizing for Midwest Casino Workers Organizing Council on Dec 20, 2013 at 8:19 a.m.

Wisconsin State Rep. Nick Milroy, D-South Range, wrote we need a living wage. I agree. But if Milroy believes we need a real living wage, why is he advocating a minimum wage that is still a poverty wage?

In fact, Milroy is proposing a pathetic miserly “increase” in the minimum wage.

Milroy would like us to believe the Republicans are responsible for the present miserly minimum wage of $7.25 an hour.

However, President Obama had a super-majority of Democrats when he first entered office and this Democratic super-majority never raised the minimum wage to a real living wage.

In Minnesota, Democrats have a super-majority; and like Milroy, these Democrats mouth the words “living wage,” but not only did they not use their super-majority to raise the minimum wage a plug nickle, they now call for a minimum wage increase that is another poverty wage.

Why this hypocrisy between political rhetoric for votes and actual legislation?

Any schoolchild understands that if you pay a workingman or working woman a poverty wage they are going to be poor.

The minimum wage should be a real living wage which means it needs to be legislatively tied to all cost-of-living factors tracked and monitored by the United States Department of Labor’s Bureau of Labor Statistics, indexed for inflation and then periodically increased to provide an improved standard-of-living.

In addition, most minimum wage workers do not work a 40-hour week.

So, a real living hourly minimum wage is still not the complete answer.

What we need, in addition to the minimum wage being a real living wage, is a guaranteed annual income based on the same cost-of-living factors for every working class family.

Of course, with the huge number of working people unemployed in this country right now the real solution is jobs.

But, if these jobs don’t pay real living wages what good is a job?

Most people work so they won’t be poor.

The politicians — from both parties — talk about “jobs, jobs, jobs” then refuse to take it upon themselves to be responsible for full employment in the same way they hypocritically talk about living wages, and then legislate poverty wages, again.

So this cycle continues and everyone wonders why there is poverty in the midst of such tremendous wealth in the richest country in the world.

And if all this isn’t bad enough, both parties continue to squander the wealth of our Nation on these dirty wars killing our jobs the same way they kill people.

We need to create tens of millions of jobs to put America to work.

How do we create jobs when we are wasting all this money on wars?

Thanks to Democrats like Milroy who take campaign contributions from the managements of the Indian Gaming Industry, we are having one heck of a time trying to organize workers employed at the Bad River Lodge, Casino and Convention Center.

With the miserly minimum wage of $7.60 an hour being proposed by Milroy, and opposed by Republicans, a working man or working woman would have to work three 40 hour a week jobs and they would still be living on the edge of poverty.

What we need is a huge working class movement like the one that forced President Roosevelt to enact minimum wage legislation in the first place.

From this movement will come working class politicians. We need a new working class based progressive people’s party if we are going to turn this country around.

I also wrote this "Letter to the Editor" which was published in the Albert Lea Tribune:

Where is the real minimum wage?

Published 9:00am Wednesday, December 25, 2013
http://www.albertleatribune.com/2013/12/where-is-the-real-minimum-wage/

Holiday shoppers and voters should beware of the bait and switch.

Bait and switch is an illegal advertising gimmick in the retail world; but, in politics bait and switch has become the way of life, the new normal.

For example: Obama campaigned for the Democratic Party’s nomination telling everyone, everywhere he went, he was for a single-payer universal health care system like they have in Canada; this was the bait.


Once elected, Obama pulled a switch and delivered Obamacare/Romneycare or as it should be known, the Health Insurance and Pharmaceutical Industry Bailout and Profit Maximization Act of 2010.

Another example: Minnesota Democratic Farmer-Labor Party Gov. Mark Dayton campaigned for office saying he would raise the minimum wage to a real living wage — this was the bait. Once elected, Dayton, a multibillionaire, is now pushing a miserly increase in the minimum wage which would keep the minimum wage a poverty wage — the switch.

Buyer (voter) beware of bait and switch.

The Minnesota DFL Party has a super-majority. Republicans have no say about anything; all they can do is cry.

We should at least be able to get a real living minimum wage out of these Democrats corresponding to actual cost-of-living factors as tracked and monitored by the United States Department of Labor’s Bureau of Labor Statistics — the minimum wage should also be indexed to inflation with periodic increases to improve the living standards of working people.

Working people are entitled to this in return for their votes, especially from a political party which makes the claim that it is for labor.

If there are any obstacles the Democrats are encountering that would prevent them from implementing a real living — non-poverty — minimum wage, I would like to hear what the impediment is.

Alan L. Maki

director of organizing

Midwest Casino Workers Organizing Council

Warroad

There can be no talk of eliminating poverty without legislation:

- For a real living Minimum Wage based on actual "cost-of-living"

- For a "Basic Income Guarantee"

- For a "21st Century Full Employment Act for Peace and Prosperity."

 

What is the main reason we have this "income inequality?"

Poverty wages.

Unemployment.

How is this fixed?

Pay working people real living wages.

Create jobs. Put people to work in massive government universal social programs designed to improve the lives of people.

For less than the cost of these dirty imperialist wars we can put people to work providing the American people with free health care and free child care in a National Public Health Care System and a National Public Child Care Program which would be: publicly funded, publicly administered and publicly delivered... just like public education.