Alex Lloyd Gross
Debate over minimum wage still rages on
Everyone wants to make more money. Some people make too much and others not enough. However, the people that are working for minimum wage which is $7.25 per hour have haven to the streets in various cities to protest and ask for more cash in their pay check. Most of these people work in fast food restaurants and Wal-Mart. or other service related jobs. To say these people are the back bone and , quite often the representative of the company that the general public will see, would be a true statement. The CEO of Wendy’s does not run a register or cook french fries. The people working feel they are under paid and in most instances, they are. However,they are asking for an immediate increase to $15.00 per hour, which probably is not going to happen.
Most of the people that work these jobs do not have an education past a high school diploma or GED. Those that do, are not making a career from that job. In fact, the job requires very little skill except for some basic training. Let’s face it, some jobs are not designed to sustain a family but are for extra income. People that are paid minimum wage have zero allegiance to their employer. If the employer spends $200.00 in training for the worker and will not give them a raise past $ 8.00 per hour, the people working will jump ship at the first opportunity to make $8,25. That costs everyone money. The argument people against an increase make is that when you raise wages to $15.00/hr that employers will spend money for automation and demand better educated employees.
A woman who identified herself as Juanita at a recent protest in Philadelphia does not agree with that. “They need us. When you raise wages, there is more money available to be spent in the economy”, she said. That statement is true, to an extent. If say a medical records tabulator is making $14.75 per hour currently, and the minimum wage jumps to $15.00 that person with education and experience is going to get a 25 cent raise per hour and they will now have a minimum wage job. Do you think they will be happy working for minimum wage? They will want a raise to say $20.00 which could be commensurate with their experience. That would drive up prices.
There is a solution and that is to raise the minimum wage in a big jump to $9.00 per hour and another 1.00 per hour 16 months later for a $10.00 minimum wage. Different states have already done this. It is true that the cost of living is cheaper in Kansas than New York. Some companies may try to do an end run around this by being based in a state that has a rate of $7.25 per hour and transporting their employees across state lines for a job to work which the minimum wage in that state is $9.00. Because the company and employee is based in the cheaper wage state, they may try to pay the lesser rate. If a state is going to raise it’s minimum wage, they must be fair and write into law that any work preformed in that state is paid that that rate or higher. With election year coming it seems as though there will be an increase. Just how much remains to be seen, To find out how much the minimum wage is in your state, go here.