Economy
Related: About this forumMinimum Wage Support Grows
June 10, 2014Fighting the Corporatists
Minimum Wage Support Grows
by RALPH NADER
During a recent talk at Northwesterns Kellogg School of Management, McDonalds CEO Don Thompson indicated his support for legislation in Congress to raise the federal minimum wage. I will tell you we will support legislation that moves forward, he said. Later in the talk, Mr. Thompson continued, McDonalds will be fine. Well manage through whatever the additional cost implications are. It turns out that, contrary to the stale Republican talking points, one of the largest low-wage employers in the country does not have a problem with a higher minimum wage.
We have been vigorously advocating for a raise in the federal minimum wage for several years now. Much progress has been made in that time. Unfortunately, little of this progress has come in the halls of Congress, leaving cities and states across the country to do the work that our national leaders wont do.
Twenty two states and the District of Columbia have minimum wages that are higher than the current federal minimum wage of $7.25 per hour. In 2014 alone, seven states (Connecticut ($10.10 per hour by 2017), Delaware ($8.25 per hour by 2015), Hawaii ($10.10 per hour by 2018), Maryland ($10.10 per hour by 2018), Michigan ($9.25 per hour by 2018), Minnesota ($9.50 per hour by 2016) and West Virginia ($8.75 by 2016)) plus the District of Columbia ($11.50 per hour by 2016) have signed minimum wage increases into law. And Vermonts legislature also recently passed legislation to raise their minimum wage to $10.50 by 2018, but it awaits action from Governor Peter Shumlin. Many cities have also decided not to wait on Washington: Seattle ($15 per hour by 2017), San Francisco ($10.74 per hour), Santa Fe ($10.66 per hour), and San Jose ($10.15 per hour) have all passed increases in their local minimum wage.
Supporting this action at the state and local level, poll after poll has shown that a vast majority of Americans 70 to 80 percent support an increase in the minimum wage. So why hasnt Congress taken the hint?
http://www.counterpunch.org/2014/06/10/minimum-wage-support-grows/
US minimum wage hike and GOP
Fred Sanders
(23,946 posts)Crewleader
(17,005 posts)on this subject, sadly.
Fred Sanders
(23,946 posts)Crewleader
(17,005 posts)Fred Sanders
(23,946 posts)for all of the current major issues, in favour of Democrats......but the control of media the RW has will make you want to talk about how many concussions is too much for a person to be a Presidential candidate, now that is the REAL issue to the fascist media.
Crewleader
(17,005 posts)Thank You for the compliment.
cosmicaug
(712 posts)I love how the conservatives and libertarians are losing their shit and saying "I told you so" over the parking business in Seattle which is now claiming to be adding a $0.99 surcharge in order to pass on the costs of the minimum wage raise to the consumer.
http://p.washingtontimes.com/news/2014/jun/11/seattle-business-charges-living-wage-tax-response-/
Never mind that this implies that it takes 35 minutes of minimum wage labor to park a car for a day as first implemented (it doesn't start at $15, it starts at $11). Never mind that it hasn't even been implemented so that additional costs due to the law at the moment are exactly $0.00 (implementation starts on 2015).