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This story appeared on Page A10 of The
Standard-Times on September 5, 2005.
Minimum wage should be livable wage
On this Labor Day, 2005, Massachusetts workers are
in a difficult position. The cost of living --
housing, health care, food and fuel -- has been
rising quite steeply since 1998. Yet wages are
lagging behind. Specifically, the Massachusetts
minimum wage, $6.75, is now too low to meet workers'
basic needs. The value of the minimum wage continues
to drop because it does not increase even though
prices are going up.
To remedy this, the Greater Southeastern
Massachusetts Labor Council, Coalition for Social
Justice and Coalition Against Poverty are asking
voters to call their legislators to ask them to
support House Bill 3782, which would raise the
minimum wage to $8.25 and index it to inflation to
preserve its real value over time.
In Greater New Bedford, we are proud to announce
that Sen. Mark C. Montigny and State Reps. Antonio
F.D. Cabral, Stephen Canessa and John Quinn are
fully on board.
According to Sen. Montigny, "It is appropriate that
on Labor Day we bring attention to legislation that
would increase the minimum wage to $8.25. This will
not only improve the living standards of working
families, but would also set this wage to inflation
to insure that our workers receive a fair wage in
the long run."
And Rep. Cabral added, "The passage of the bill is
critical for hard-working minimum wage earners to
receive a fair wage so as to better support their
families."
According to Rep. Canessa, "My colleagues and I need
to stand up and fight for our working families, too
many of whom are working two to three jobs just to
get by. Increasing and indexing the minimum wage is
one important part of that fight."
And as Rep. Quinn stated, "As the most developed
country in the world, at the very least we must
provide a wage scale that supports a basic standard
of living for those that work. The current minimum
wage does not provide a livable wage and must be
increased."
Volunteers from the Coalition for Social Justice
agree. "As we go door to door and talk to voters or
call them on the phone, there is a groundswell of
support for this measure, said Dale Mello. "Many
people in our area are affected by these low wages.
They have seen housing costs skyrocket to the point
where apartments are unaffordable, even though
people are working full time."
Last spring, The Standard-Times noted that a single
wage earner would have to be making $11.33 an hour,
to afford a one-bedroom apartment in New Bedford.
Just to highlight this problem, Massachusetts was
the only state to lose population in the recent
federal census, and many say that out-of-sight
housing costs are the primary reason for the exodus.
Minimum wage increases have not led to widespread
job losses, either. Studies by economists in
Massachusetts have shown that every minimum wage
increase has been followed by increases in total
employment, not decreases. And where there have been
job loses in Massachusetts, it's been in
manufacturing jobs, which always pay much higher
than the minimum wage. The tourism and retail
service sector have grown in jobs, and that's who
pays the minimum wage.
Many people feel that work is the antidote to
poverty. But unless the minimum wage can begin to
meet basic human needs, more and more people will be
added to the rolls of the working poor, and some
will become homeless if they can't afford their
housing costs. Plain and simple, raising the minimum
wage would affect the poorest 20 percent of
households in Massachusetts, now earning only $312
per week. The increase to $8.25 would bring the
minimum wage back to slightly below its 1968 level
in terms of real buying power. Let's not forget that
the Massachusetts poverty rate declined
significantly (from 11 percent to 9.4 percent) after
the last minimum wage increase in 2000-01.
House Bill 3782 would increase the minimum wage from
$6.75 to $8.25 per hour by Jan. 1, 2007. In 2008,
the minimum wage would be pegged to the Consumer
Price Index, so that the minimum wage maintains a
constant real value over time. Tipped employees
would also see a raise from the current $2.63 to
one-half of the new minimum wage.
Raising the minimum wage is not only fair and just,
it sends a clear signal that we value hard work and
think low-wage workers should be able to meet their
very basic needs. This is the one of the greatest
tributes we can offer workers on this Labor Day,
2005.
Marlene Pollock and Cynthia Rodrigues
Ms. Pollock of New Bedford is an organizer for the
Coalition for Social Justice.
Cynthia Rodrigues is president of the Greater
Southeastern Mass. Labor Council in Dartmouth
This story appeared on Page A10 of The
Standard-Times on September 5, 2005. |
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