Missing it Again on the Minimum Wage
February 16th, 2012 | Jonathan Tasini
See, this is a good example of how the conventional wisdom we hear day after day warps the brain. More people are, in fact, being pushed into minimum wage jobs:
The number of workers in New York state earning minimum wage has increased sharply since the start of the recession, one of the driving factors underlying a debate in Albany over whether to raise the hourly rate.
In 2011, the number of minimum-wage earners statewide stood at about 91,000, according to the federal Bureau of Labor Statistics. The figure represents a significant jump from 2008, when an estimated 6,000 people worked at the lowest rung of the income ladder.
The swelling ranks of minimum-wage earners has lent some ammunition to a push by Democratic Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver to increase the hourly rate for the first time since 2009. It was boosted that year to $7.25 an hour.
Mr. Silver has backed a bill that would an increase the wage to $8.50 an hour, a rate that would be among the highest in the nation. It would then be indexed annually to the inflation rate.
But, the problem is that the solution is a cruel lie. The minimum wage today, if it reflected productivity gains over the last 30 years, should be between $19-$20 an hour. Raising the minimum wage, then, to $8.50 an hour seems like a big deal–except when you understand that it hides the vast robbery that has taken place of the past 30 years and it certainly will not make it possible for people to live with dignity and respect.
This blog originally appeared in Working Life on February 13, 2012. Reprinted with permission.
About the Author: Jonathan Tasini is the executive director of Labor Research Association. Tasini ran for the Democratic nomination for the U.S. Senate in New York. For the past 25 years, Jonathan has been a union leader and organizer, a social activist, and a commentator and writer on work, labor and the economy. From 1990 to April 2003, he served as president of the National Writers Union (United Auto Workers Local 1981).He was the lead plaintiff in Tasini vs. The New York Times, the landmark electronic rights case that took on the corporate media’s assault on the rights of thousands of freelance authors.
Related Posts:
Tags: Jonathan Tasini, Minimum Wage, Wage reform
February 16th, 2012 at 7:34 pm
Something has to give one way or another, we either get better pay or lower costs. If one lives in New York, especially in the areas around Westchester and the metro area, one needs at least two minimum wage jobs at 40 hours a week to meet necessities like rent,utilities and food. And if you don’t have a car,you are traveling at least an hour one way into work and an hour to return home. So your 16 hour day is expanded into a minimum of 18 hours leaving you 6 hours daily to eat and sleep and start all over. With incentives like this, no wonder people go on welfare just for the extra sleep time and time with any family.
February 17th, 2012 at 1:45 pm
Johathon:
You are talking about 1/10 of one percent of the jobs in NY. One out of a thousand. The higher you raise minimum wage the more jobs that will be lost to technology. Remeber when bagels were hand rolled. Rember secretaries and paper instead of email. Remeber newspaper boys on bikes not grown men with cars.
9000 jobs does not staff the back of the house for the 532 McDonalds in New York.
Besides get rid of the illegal aleins in New york and there will be no minimum wage jobs becuese there won’t be anybody left that will need to work for minimum wage.
Last if your working for minimum wage get a better job!