The
answer is to make the Minimum Wage a real living wage. There is only
one way to do this. Legislatively tie the Minimum Wage to the real and
actual "cost-of-living" calculated from the Consumer Price Index; then
index this living wage to inflation; and,
in addition, provide everyone getting the Minimum Wage with periodic
increases in the Minimum Wage so everyone's "standard-of-living"
continually improves.
The
whole idea behind having a Minimum Wage in the first place is not to
provide employers with a huge pool of cheap labor but to improve the
lives and "standard-of-living" of working people. Some people, including
many of those pushing for a "Living Wage" are confusing the purpose of
the Minimum Wage and this is not helping our struggle.
Federal "Minimum Wage" legislation was passed in 1938 as part of the "Fair Labor Standards Act."
Frances
Perkins, FDR's Secretary of Labor, had been working with liberals,
progressives and leftists for many years pushing for this most
progressive legislation.
Wall
Street business interests have perverted the Minimum Wage for just the
opposite purpose--- using it to keep wages down for all workers by
having this huge pool of millions of poverty waged workers; thereby
undermining the progressive intent of the federal Minimum Wage Act.
$15.00 is only a minor reform which has about as much chance of being enacted as single-payer universal health care.
I
believe very faulty logic has gone into this "$15.00 or Fight" movement
because we, as leftists, should be demanding what is the real solution.
This
"$15.00 or Fight" is based on the false poverty level established by
the U.S. Census Bureau, Democratic Party front groups and the
foundation-funded anti-poverty organizations.
It
is just like single-payer universal health care; we couldn't sustain a
movement for real health care reform because we didn't organize around
the specific required solution: a National Public Health Care System.
It
is the same thing with the Minimum Wage; we should be organizing around
the real solution... if we end up getting a lesser real reform like
$15.00 for the Minimum Wage because we feel we can't get any more in the
way of justice which is what the advocates of the Minimum Wage felt in
1938 then so be it--- but, because we win a reform does not mean we stop
advocating for the complete required reform; which, in this situation
is legislatively tying the Minimum Wage to the real and actual
"cost-of-living" calculated from the Consumer Price Index; then index
this living wage to inflation; and, in addition, provide everyone
getting the Minimum Wage with periodic increases in the Minimum Wage so
everyone's "standard-of-living" continually improves.
The
same thing goes for full employment. We can't start out advocating for
some kind of half-ass reform calling for the voluntary intent to achieve
full employment. We need legislation that will require the president
and Congress to work together to attain and maintain full employment.
None of this bullshit where there is a target of 5% unemployment being
the same as full employment. Everyone who wants to work is entitled to a
real living wage job--- if private enterprise can't, or won't, provide
jobs then the government is going to have to come up with universal
social programs putting people to work solving the problems people and
society are experiencing.
It
is mind-boggling that these politicians, political hacks and pundits
who can't figure out that workers paid poverty wages and workers without
jobs are going to be poor are the very same ones who can't figure out
that the way to create jobs is putting people to work solving our
problems.
Just
as mind-boggling is the fact that these politicians, political hacks
and pundits who talk about "jobs, jobs, jobs" and tell us they are for
single-payer universal health care and affordable health care someplace
down the line when they are looking for votes can't figure out that we
can put 12 million to 15 million people to work in a National Public
Health Care System providing the American people with free health care
for much less than these costly, stupid, dirty, barbaric, savage and
never-ending imperialist wars are costing us while this madness and
insanity of the Military-Industrial Complex leaves in its wake the most
damaging carbon footprint at the very time when everyone except the most
dense people incapable of thinking logically and using common sense
know we are on course for complete environmental catastrophe.
A National Public Child Care System would create another 3 to 5 million new jobs.
What about WPA, CCC and C.E.T.A.--- millions of more jobs through government programs proven to work.
If
leftists aren't willing to come forward with this kind of analysis
becoming the catalyst for action we will never see any meaningful
reforms let alone socialist revolution.
This
kind of thinking needs to be brought into the proverbial public square
where we can enter into a dialog with the American people.
Anyone
who thinks that these Wall Street bribed politicians can be convinced
and reasoned with about anything unless they are being challenged for
power is living in some kind of la-la land.
We need to state right up front our intent is to challenge Wall Street for political and economic power.
We
need an anti-monopoly political movement and party to accomplish this
so people in the streets, fighting for their rights and livelihoods in
the workplace have a political party on their side.
There
are far too many small leftists parties and organizations doing their
own thing without talking to those outside their parties and
organizations.
We
need some kind of organized national round-table discussions which
include all leftists (and any liberals and progressives who want to join
us) to hash these things out.
Uniting
People is organizing a national conference call to discuss the Minimum
Wage on the evening of April 27. This will include a panel discussion
with completely interactive communication between panelists and callers.
Everyone is welcome to join in.