We
hear a lot about how people are "free" because they have
the right to vote.
When you think about this "right"
to vote though, do you ever think about what we have the right to
vote on and vote for?
Do you ever think about how what we vote
for is just ignored?
Democrats have a platform their
candidates are supposedly beholden to when they are running to get
elected--- this is the "bait;" but when it comes to
platform positions once they get elected, like making the Minimum
Wage a real living wage, they just cleverly pull a "switch"---
in the retail world this is called "bait and switch"... we
all hate "bait and switch" in the retail sector, right? Do
we like it any better in politics?
This is the platform the
candidates of the Minnesota DFL ran on--- I know it well because I
wrote the resolution in the Lake Township Roseau County Minnesota
Precinct Caucus; it was later approved by delegates to the Roseau
County DFL Convention and then approved by the delegates to the
Minnesota Democratic Farmer-Labor Party's State Convention of which I
was a delegate along with being a member of the MN DFL State Central
Committee at the time:
LABOR
And EMPLOYMENT
We
promote the American labor movement and the rights of all workers.
We
Support:
A
minimum wage that keeps pace with inflation and provides full time
workers with an income above the poverty level.
Is
there anything ambiguous or difficult to understand about this?
I
thought I wrote it out plain and simple.
Now
here we are with a Democratic governor, a Democratic majority in the
State House and a Democratic majority in the State Senate--- a DFL
super-majority.
Mark
Dayton came begging to me in front of over two-hundred people and the
news media for my support declaring that he was for a real living
Minimum Wage... and a couple other things he said he was for and has
since reneged on, too.
It's
time for these politicians to increase the Minimum Wage to a real
living wage and we find that the Minnesota DFL with the
super-majority voters have given them with not one single DFL member
of the Minnesota state legislative caucus or the Governor willing to
legislate what the Platform calls for and what most working class
Minnesotans support.
Is
it any wonder participation in recent Precinct Caucuses was at an
all-time low? Why bother if no one listens?
In fact, if there
is anyone amongst us who doesn't believe every worker is entitled to
a living wage for the work they do, let them stand before Minnesotans
and explain their thinking.
What
should the Minimum Wage be?
The Minimum Wage should be based
on all "cost-of-living" factors; this is just plain common
sense.
We pay people employed by the United States Department
of Labor's Bureau of Labor Statistics big money to track and record
all of this on a quarterly basis. Eight categories and two-hundred
sub-categories under each of the eight categories are monitored for
goods and services--- this is called the Consumer Price Index (CPI).
Inflation is also monitored very closely. All of this is monitored
for each region of the country.
Does
anyone doubt the accuracy of the work done by the Bureau of Labor
Statistics? If so, let them step forward with empirical data to prove
their point. I doubt I have any takers.
If
we want the Minimum Wage to be a real living wage, which justice
requires, all that needs to be done is legislatively tie the Minimum
Wage to these findings along with providing a periodic increase to
improve everyone's standard-of-living.
It
isn't the role of public elected officials to use the levers of
government to provide employers with a huge pool of cheap labor from
which they reap huge super-profits--- especially at a time when
corporate profits and business profits are at an all-time record
high.
It
is the responsibility of government to provide for the common good.
A
group of Minnesota DFL politicians recently grandstanded pulling a
stunt saying they were going to try living on the pathetically
miserly federal Minimum Wage of $7.25 an hour. What kind of
experiment was this? We all know no one can live on $7.25 an hour.
Why didn't they try living on the $9.50 an hour they are proposing?
Because they know they wouldn't have been able to live on this,
either.
Getting
the Minimum Wage in line with actual "cost-of-living" is
what is key in this controversy over the Minimum Wage; nothing else
matters, yet this is the one issue most avoided.
Like
many people, I get calls every single day asking that I make a
campaign contribution to this or that politician.
From
now on, this will be my response to these over-paid employer-bribed
politicians:
You
want my donation?
Vote
to raise my wages!
Until
then, go away.
I'm
broke.
After
all, it's not like we are asking for the Minimum Wage to increase
like the price of propane. On second thought, maybe we should.
Alan
L. Maki
Director of
Organizing,
Midwest Casino
Workers Organizing Council
58891 County
Road 13
Warroad,
Minnesota 56763
Phone:
218-386-2432
Cell:
651-587-5541
