We
see, in the article below, what happens when "cost-of-living"
is not introduced into this discussion about the Minimum Wage.
Each and everyone of us should be
responding to every single article we come across about linking the
Minimum Wage to cost-of-living.
I would love to respond to this
particular article but the Star Tribune editorial board has banned my
letters from being published in their newspaper even though their
editors have waged vicious red-baiting campaigns against me.
So much for “democracy” and
the much ballyhooed “free press” these editors and “journalists”
from the Star Tribune like to boast about.
On the one hand the Star Tribune
refuses to allow a discussion about the relationship between wages
and cost-of-living; while on the other hand its editors and
journalists drum into people's heads that an increase in the Minimum
Wage will cause a loss of jobs and then poll results reflect what
people have been fed day in and day out, every single day of the year
and then these poll results are brought forward to “prove”
people want an increase in the Minimum Wage as long as it isn't too
much. How convenient that this big-business calling itself the
Minneapolis Star Tribune would be able to come up with poll results
that its fellow poverty-wage loving big-business partners with the advertising dollars
will appreciate.
This article, like most articles
on the Minimum Wage, can be broken down into at least 4 issues
relating to the Minimum Wage that need to be responded to.
One thing we might consider doing
is setting up a committee to respond to all these articles---
everyone would forward every article on the Minimum Wage they come
across to one person, then that person would ask each of four people
or so to respond to a different section of the article with a "letter
to the editor" and even a longer op-ed piece. This
might be a project we propose at out Uniting People National
Conference Call about the Minimum Wage on April 27?
Democratic and Republican hacks
are busy writing letters from their business perspectives on the
Minimum Wage and then they ask people to sign the letters and send
them in. The Star Tribune then calls to “verify” that these
people sending the letters actually wrote them by asking, “Is this
your original writing and no one else's?” Of course, the signer of
the letter always dishonestly responds, “Yes; this letter is my
original letter.”
The Minneapolis Star Tribune has
never entertained the idea that there is this inseparable
relationship between wages and “cost-of-living.” This is a taboo
topic for the Minneapolis Star Tribune--- as anyone can see from this
article written by one very reactionary Rachele E. Stassen-Berger who
the editorial board of the Minneapolis Star Tribune don't like to
mention that she is the granddaughter of the racist, anti-Semitic,
anti-Communist, anti-labor, Nazi-loving and thoroughly corrupt lying
former Minnesota Republican Governor Harold Stassen.
One thing I am wondering about is
why some people seem to want to evade the Minimum Wage by saying
things like "we need a living wage not a Minimum Wage."
There doesn't seem to be an understanding that the Minimum Wage is meant to protect workers not give employers a large body of cheap labor.
There doesn't seem to be an understanding that the Minimum Wage is meant to protect workers not give employers a large body of cheap labor.
In my opinion, we should be united
in calling for the Minimum Wage to be a real living wage. Doing
otherwise lets these politicians off the hook. After all, this is an
issue specifically about the Minimum Wage so why would we want to try
to turn it into an issue about a “Living Wage Act” or anything
else someone might choose to call it?
This issue about the Minimum Wage
is the most important “kitchen table issue” and we, as leftists,
should be concerned we are a catalyst for united action on this
issue.
Anyone else have thoughts about
this?
Alan L. Maki
Minnesota Poll: Minimum wage hike is popular, but $9.50 target isn’t
- Updated: February 19, 2014 - 5:39 AM
Nearly
80 percent in poll say increase minimum wage.
Minnesotans
overwhelmingly believe it is time to lift the state’s minimum wage,
but fewer than half are ready to raise it to the level proposed by
some DFLers, according to a new Star Tribune Minnesota Poll.
The
poll found that 42 percent of Minnesotans say it’s time to increase
the state’s minimum wage to $9.50 an hour — a figure proposed by
House leaders and supported by Gov. Mark
Dayton.
Another 37 percent say it should go above the current minimum of
$6.15 but stay below $9.50.
Only
16 percent of Minnesotans say the minimum wage should stay where it
is. At $6.15 an hour, the state minimum is below the federal standard
and one of the lowest in the nation.
The
poll found support for raising the wage floor across all groups:
Whether men or women, Democrats or Republicans, young or old, urban
or rural, Minnesotans say $6.15 is not enough.
“I
think it should be more. It should be minimum of $10. Minimum,”
said Jeff Richard, 51, a temporary worker in Lakeville.
“I don’t know how someone working for less would possibly live.”
The
poll results will give advocates of raising pay a boost as they try
to change the wage floor again this year.
Last
year, amid division among Democrats over how high to go, the
DFL-controlled Capitol left the minimum wage unchanged.
Backers
have vowed not to let that happen again. Dayton and House DFL
leaders, along with many advocates, have settled on $9.50 by 2015.
Supporters have spent months pushing legislators to support the
increase.
They
also plan a massive rally to welcome the Legislature back to the
Capitol when it reconvenes next Tuesday.
“This
clearly indicates that a broad swath of Minnesotans believe that this
is the way to go,” said Brian Rusche, co-chair of a group
campaigning for a $9.50-an-hour minimum wage.
The
poll surveyed 800 Minnesota adults between Feb. 10 and Feb. 12 and
has a margin of error of plus or minus 3.5 percentage points.
Three-fourths
of respondents were reached through a land line, one-fourth by
cellphone.
The
sample included 39 percent Democrats, 30 percent Republicans and 26
percent of Minnesotans who said they were independent or identify
with another party.
Effect
on job growth debated
Some
Minnesotans — including those who support an increase — say they
harbor concerns that a higher wage could come at the price of lower
job growth.
According
to the poll, 31 percent of Minnesotans believe there will be a
significant loss of jobs if the minimum wage is raised to $9.50.
Meanwhile, 39 percent said a jump to $9.50 would cause “few or no
minimum wage jobs” to be lost.
“I
think $9.50 would be awfully hard on a lot of small-business owners,”
said Cindy Manthei, a 55-year-old who works in a meat market. The
Republican from Loretto said she wants the wage floor to go up, but
only a little.
“I
think it should be a gradual increase and not immediate … to allow
companies to slide into it,” said Golby, 64. Otherwise, he said,
“There may be some layoffs.”
Bruce
Nustad, president of the Minnesota Retailers Association, said if the
minimum wage jumped suddenly, his members would be forced to reduce
jobs.
He
said the fact that 37 percent of those polled support increasing the
wage to something below $9.50 an hour is “somewhat encouraging.”
“I
think we all know that level is going to go up,” Nustad said. He
would like legislators to ask: “What’s the reasonable level
that’s not overly dramatic?”
No
matter what final dollar amount they land on, lawmakers will have to
settle on a phase-in time for the new wage, determine which
businesses would have to pay it and whether any will be exempt.
In
Minnesota, about
114,000 workers were
paid the federal minimum wage of $7.25 or less in 2013. According to
the state
Department of Employment and Economic Development,
more than 460,000 Minnesotans, or about 16 percent of all workers,
were paid less than $9.50 an hour in 2012.
Income
is a big divide
The
poll found that higher-income Minnesotans were least likely to
support a minimum-wage increase.
Nearly
half of those earning more than $75,000 annually said the minimum
wage should remain $6.15 an hour, where it has been since 2005. Most
employers pay the federal minimum, although some employers are
allowed to pay the lower state minimum.
According
to the poll, Democrats were most comfortable with a significant
increase — 64 percent said the rate should be increased to $9.50
and another 27 percent said it should be increased, but by less.
Nearly all independents — 85 percent — favored an increase. So
did Republicans, but by a smaller share. About 58 percent said boost
wages, though only 14 percent said as high as $9.50. Another 36
percent of Republicans said keep the minimum unchanged.
“I
don’t see that government has any business telling private business
how much to pay their people,” said Richard Larcher, 72, of Dora
Lake. “That’s just silly, and it will cost jobs.”
Rachel
E. Stassen-Berger Twitter: @RachelSB
