Minnesota House passes minimum wage cut for tipped workers — including 8,000 women over 30

What I do not understand: how can a state, legislate a ban on what municipalities can determine as a liveable wage?  One would think that such a ban would be in violation of the Fourteenth Amendment.

As one comment so aptly states, "It might be wise if republican law makers avoided kicking poor people that can spit in their food."  To which another added, "And vote...."

The Minnesota state House this week passed a bill that would cut the minimum wage for thousands of restaurant workers who receive tips.

The Star Tribune reported that the measure passed by GOP-controlled state House on Wednesday was packed with rollbacks to appease the hospitality industry.

If the bill is signed into law, it would create a two-tiered minimum wage that critics referred to as a “tip penalty.” Restaurant owners would be able to pay employees a lower wage if they made at least $4 an hour in tips.

Republican lawmakers said that they wanted to pass the law before the minimum wage rose to $9.50 an hour in 2016, arguing that it would force restaurants out of business.
,,,
“The message from this bill is that you’re making too much money,” he explained. “It wants to keep people making $12 per hour rather than making $14 or $15 an hour. If you tried living on $30,000 per year in this state, you’d understand that a couple of thousand dollars per year makes a huge difference.”

Another provision in the bill, would ban local municipalities and airports from raising the minimum wage above the state minimum wage.

Minnesota House passes minimum wage cut for tipped workers — including 8,000 women over 30

See also: Minnesota House passes lower minimum wage for tip workers

L.A. restaurants push for tips to count toward minimum wage - LA Times

The battle over boosting the minimum wage in Los Angeles has turned to the dollar bills tucked under an empty coffee cup, the spare change dropped into tip jars and the hasty calculations jotted down on meal tabs.
As L.A. leaders weigh raising wages for businesses across the city, scores of local restaurateurs argue that the city should count tips toward the added amount they would have to pay workers to reach the proposed $13.25 or $15.25 minimum wage.

Doing so, they say, would ensure the wage increase helps those who need it most and reduce the financial burden on businesses.

"There is just no room for us to be able to afford this increase and stay in business," said Caroline Styne, who owns several restaurants and cafes around Los Angeles. "None of us is refuting the fact that people making $9 an hour cannot get by on that. I'm talking about people that are already making well over that."

Borna Sammak of Brooklyn leaves a tip after placing an order at the Manifesto Cafe in Los Angeles. (Jenna Schoenefeld, for The Times)

 

Restaurant servers may get $9 or $10 an hour in wages but as much as $30 or more hourly when tips are included, restaurant owners have argued at public hearings, citing industry research. They maintain that including tips in calculations of minimum pay would not harm workers. If tips were unusually low one day, they say, the restaurant would have to make up any difference to ensure employees receive the required minimum.

"We're willing to pay people to get them to minimum wage," restaurant owner David Dickerson told lawmakers. "We're just asking that tips be part of the equation."

Labor activists warn that counting tips toward the citywide minimum wage would violate California law and leave those waiting tables, scrubbing cars or turning down hotel beds more vulnerable to being illegally underpaid. Most tipped workers have low incomes, they say, both inside and outside the restaurant world.

[,,,]
The question of how to handle tips has posed a dilemma for Los Angeles lawmakers, who say their intent is to pull Angelenos out of poverty. Beacon Economics, hired to analyze the wage boost for the Los Angeles Area Chamber of Commerce, estimated that nearly a fifth of Los Angeles County workers earning less than $13.25 an hour do jobs that usually involve tips.

L.A. restaurants push for tips to count toward minimum wage - LA Times

Judge Takes Away Minimum Wage Protections From Home Care Workers | ThinkProgress

On Monday, U.S. District Judge Richard Leon struck down a rule change issued by the Department of Labor that would have extended minimum wage and overtime pay protections to home care workers come January.

In 1974, the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) — the law requires American employers to pay their workers at least the minimum wage and extra pay for overtime hours — was expanded to cover domestic workers. Yet a carve-out was included for those who provide “care and fellowship” to the elderly and disabled in their homes. That exemption became so broadly interpreted as to deny basic labor rights from those who feed, clothe, and bathe clients, as well as give them medical care. In 2007, under that law, the Supreme Court ruled that a woman named Evelyn Coke’s employer, who had her work long hours giving care, did nothing illegal by failing to give her overtime pay.

Judge Leon’s decision said that the rule change issued last year conflicted with this 40-year exemption. He wrote that this loophole “is not an open question” that the Labor Department can “effectively rewrite…out of the law,” calling the change a “thinly-veiled effort to do through regulation what could not be done through legislation.”

Judge Takes Away Minimum Wage Protections From Home Care Workers | ThinkProgress

Walmart Black Friday Protests Hit Major Cities With Calls For '$15 And Full Time'

Black Friday may be most famous for doorbuster shopping deals, but among progressives it's becoming a regular holiday for labor demonstrations. Friday marked the third consecutive year of scattered but highly visible protests against Walmart. Demonstrators, along with an unknown number of Walmart strikers, are calling for better pay and scheduling practices from the world's largest retailer.

On Thursday and Friday, photos on Twitter tagged with #walmartstrikers showed sizable protests in D.C., Pittsburgh, Northern New Jersey, Los Angeles, Long Beach, Calif., and St. Paul, Minn., among other areas. The protests were led by OUR Walmart, a union-backed worker group, alongside community and labor groups in different cities.
 
Dan Schlademan, campaign director of Making Change at Walmart, a project of the United Food and Commercial Workers International Union, said on a call with reporters Friday that he expects the number of strikers to be in the hundreds by the end of the day, though the group could not provide a specific number of workers who'd submitted strike notices to their bosses.

"All the signs that we're seeing is that this is going to be the biggest day ever," Schlademan said.

Brooke Buchanan, a spokeswoman for Walmart, told HuffPost that the retailer was more concerned with serving its customers than with protests it views as union stunts. According to Buchanan, more than 22 million shoppers came to Walmart stores on Thanksgiving alone this year.

"We're really focused on our customers," Buchanan said. "We've got millions of customers coming in [on Thanksgiving] and Friday, and we're making sure they have a safe and exciting shopping experience."

Walmart Black Friday Protests Hit Major Cities With Calls For '$15 And Full Time'

ADDENDUM::Politicians can't make it on minimum wage, but we did « Watchdog.org

Being able to get to work is a priority, so the first thing we purchased was gas. We used our Kroger fuel points and paid $44 to fill up the tank, which is enough to last the week.

[,,,]
Yes, it’s a bit repetitive, but overall, fairly healthy and in ample quantities.

[,,,]
Total cost for groceries was $82.83, leaving us $27.17 for emergencies or other expenses throughout the week.

We approached the challenge as if we had both lost our jobs and taken minimum wage jobs to get by. Under this scenario, we’d have some items on hand, like paper towels, detergent, aspirin, condiments and corn to make popcorn for snacks.

But with $27.17 remaining in our budget, or going without our two splurge items, we’d be able to purchase those supplies as we needed.

The best part is that this menu isn’t too much different from what we normally eat, with fresh fruit and vegetables and other healthy options.

So rather than show how hard it is to live on a minimum wage job, this menu and budget shows that it can be done without sacrificing healthy food — or even entertainment. Our local video store always has $1 movie rentals and most are ones we’ve not yet seen, so we plan to rent one for a low-cost date night.

Another one that misses the point entirely,,,

WTH is a Krogers? Fuel points? I have a mom and pop grocery store to shop at, Rite Aid is bigger. Our Dollar General where I wouldn't mind getting lower cost food items is not allowed to take SNAP. They rent from the grocery store owners who charger 33% more for items compared to what one might pay at the nearest Walmart (33 miles away).

",,,we’d have some items on hand, like paper towels, detergent, aspirin, condiments and corn to make popcorn for snacks."

Guess what in the real world you don't have that option. And yes it is possible to eat the same food day in and day out. Do it 52 weeks a year and get back to me.

"So rather than show how hard it is to live on a minimum wage job, this menu and budget shows that it can be done without sacrificing healthy food — or even entertainment."

Where is the money for even one doctor, optometrist, or dentist visit a year and what about prescriptions? Even with Medicaid there is still a $20 co-pay and it does not cover dental.  This is a well thought out and executed "plan" but life does not always traverse in a linear fashion.

Politicians can't make it on minimum wage, but we did « Watchdog.org

Members Of Congress Take 'Minimum Wage Challenge' To Live Off Reduced Budget For A Week | ThinkProgress

Although I applaud the "effort," the participants are sorely missing the point. As many comments point out, food is only one problem faced by those working at minimum wage.

Unexpected illness - colds, flu, toothache - missing one day of work your weekly if not monthly "budget is blown to hell. That is if you still have a job after having to call-off sick.

Car maintenance and fuel - fuel alone is $40 a week. Guess what your now down to $37.

And what about school pictures or other activities that cost money? No mention of childcare either.

Let me put it to you in this way. I make $437 a month (on average), my rent (which includes everything +internet) is $400. I do not have cable or satellite and my cell is pre-paid (no money, no cell). It takes me anywhere from 6-9 moths to save for 1 pair of decent sneakers. I do receive SNAP, so food is not an issue and I do not drive. BUT I have it down to a science (although one slip and I am screwed) and there is only me (and my cat) to worry about.

For me it is part choice, and part necessity. I choose to live very simply, it has been thrust upon me by where I live (lack of job choice) and health limitations (I'm not ready to throw in the towel and go on disability.) I could go back to working 2 jobs and 60+ hrs a week but doing so puts my health in jeopardy, in the end I'm in a worse spot than when I began. But I have that "choice" many do not.
__
And some things have come up that are more dire than skipped beer. He came down with a cold but was lucky enough to find Tylenol and Afrin nasal spray in his cabinet already. “I don’t think I would have been able to buy that Afrin nasal spray” on the challenge, he noted. “I never think about what medicine costs if i need it… But some people have to think constantly about how they spend their money, and their quality of life is quite different than mine.”

Strickland will be joined by some current lawmakers this week, including Democratic Reps. Jan Schakowsky (IL), Tim Ryan (OH), and Keith Ellison (MN), to mark the fact that Thursday will represent five years since the last minimum wage increase, leaving it at $7.25 an hour. And Brad Woodhouse, president of Americans United for Change, the group that is organizing the Live the Wage challenge, said on a press call that they want more to join in, particularly Republicans. “We’re asking you to live the wage John Boehner, Mitch McConnell, and others who insist the minimum wage is adequate or we don’t need a minimum wage at all,” he said.

The hope is that those who take the challenge get a taste of what life is like on a low wage, even if it’s temporary and they can go back to their normal lifestyles after a week. “I think it’s important for those of us in these leadership positions that get elected by our constituents to represent their views from time to time to take a challenge such as this,” Rep. Ryan said on the call, “to make sure we really are not just understanding this in an intellectual way but really understand the deep challenges that people face.” It’s meant to “bring awareness to this issue,” he said.

He and his family will take the challenge for a week and “make decisions that a minimum wage family would make,” he said. “It’s an opportunity for us to put our money where our mouth is.”


Members Of Congress Take 'Minimum Wage Challenge' To Live Off Reduced Budget For A Week | ThinkProgress

CEO Of Biggest Fast Food Chain Comes Out In Favor Of A Minimum Wage Increase

One point that many if not all (myself included) forget in this debate, "Basically it applies evenly to everyone in the business. This increase would impact Subway plus every other competitor so it would not put any brand at a particular disadvantage." The "I" can't afford a wage increase line I hear from many employers. Well if "you" can't afford it, neither can your competitors. Minimum wage needs to increase and then be actuated to inflation.

The founder and CEO of Subway says a minimum wage increase wouldn’t be such a bad thing for his stores and workers and believes it should be changed so that wages rise automatically with inflation.

“I’m not concerned,” CEO Fred DeLuca said on Wednesday when CNBC asked him about minimum wage hikes. “Over the years, I’ve seen so many of these wage increases. I think it’s normal. It won’t have a negative impact hopefully, and that’s what I tell my workers.”

DeLuca’s support is noteworthy in part because of the size of his business. Subway has the most locations of any fast food chain. While a majority of small business owners support a $10.10 wage hike, major corporations of that scale typically oppose raising wages.

CEO Of Biggest Fast Food Chain Comes Out In Favor Of A Minimum Wage Increase

Governor Bans Minimum Wage Increases And Paid Sick Leave Laws | ThinkProgress

At a time when many states and cities are working passing minimum wage increases, Oklahoma Gov. Mary Fallin (R) has gone in the opposite direction and signed a law banning cities from passing higher wages. The bill also bans them from enacting paid sick days or vacation requirements.

The law will stymie the efforts of activists in Oklahoma City, where a labor federation has led the push on a petition to raise the city’s minimum wage to $10.10 per hour. The state’s current minimum has been set at the federal level of $7.25. In 2012, 64,000 workers in the state earned $7.25 an hour or less, making up 7.2 percent of all hourly workers, a larger share than the 4.7 percent figure for the country as a whole.

Fallin said she signed the bill out of the worry that higher local minimum wages “would drive businesses to other communities and states, and would raise prices for consumers.” She also argued that “most minimum wage workers are young, single people working part-time or entry level jobs” and that “many are high school or college students living with their parents in middle-class families.” She warned that increasing the minimum wage “would require businesses to fire many of those part-time workers” and harm job creation.

But,,,

Governor Bans Minimum Wage Increases And Paid Sick Leave Laws | ThinkProgress

Senate Candidate Doesn't Think The Government Should Set A Minimum Wage | ThinkProgress

For those that have said to me, "no one wants to repeal minimum wage" how much more proof do you need? Keep voting for the Reich and we will be down to pre-1950 wages and pre-1930 working conditions.

I can guarantee this will be in the Reich's platform for 2014 and 2016!!

At a Meet & Greet in Bettendorf, Iowa, Republican Senate candidate Sam Clovis said that he doesn’t think the government should set a minimum wage except in the few areas where employers have monopolistic control.

After an audience member said in reference to the minimum wage, “The U.S. government has got no right to dictate to any business owner what they pay their employees,” Clovis responded, “Exactly.”

He went on to explain, “I don’t think the U.S. government should talk about minimum wage. Because every time you raise the minimum wage, you increase unemployment.” He said he does support a starting wage for those who work in an area where employers “could collude and offer lower wages,” but “not in cities, not where you have competition for workers.” He also called the minimum wage “a form of taxation.”

Meanwhile, he claimed that just 1.2 percent of the workforce works for minimum wage and that the majority are “men 16 to 25 who live at home.” He also claimed, “Not a single worker I know of in the city of Sioux City that works for minimum wage. Not a single one.”

Senate Candidate Doesn't Think The Government Should Set A Minimum Wage | ThinkProgress

The War on the Poor and Working Families - YouTube

The "safety nets" will be first then minimum wage, IF this "war" is not stopped. How much time has been wasted raging against the ACA (50 repeal votes and counting)? How much time and energy has be squandered fighting against marriage equality? The list is endless, "teach the controversy" bills, "religious liberty" bills, anti-abortion bills. Where are the jobs in all that?

"They're waging a war against the poor and working class,,,when you're desperate, you will take what ever they're willing to pay you, even if it is next to nothing,,,Without extended unemployment benefits, a declining real minimum wage, no Medicaid, no food stamps, no education, job training, or jobs program and no union, you'll do exactly as they tell you, and that's fine with them."

The War on the Poor and Working Families - YouTube

D.C. Council approves ‘living wage’ bill over Wal-Mart ultimatum - Washington Post

D.C. lawmakers gave final approval Wednesday to a bill requiring some large retailers to pay their employees a 50 percent premium over the city’s minimum wage, a day after Wal-Mart warned that the law would jeopardize its plans in the city.

The retail giant had linked the future of at least three planned stores in the District to the proposal. But its ultimatum did not change any legislators’ minds. The 8 to 5 roll call matched the outcome of an earlier vote on the matter, taken before Wal-Mart’s warning.

“The question here is a living wage; it’s not whether Wal-Mart comes or stays,” said council member Vincent B. Orange (D-At Large), a lead backer of the legislation, who added that the city did not need to kowtow to threats. “We’re at a point where we don’t need retailers. Retailers need us.”

D.C. Council approves ‘living wage’ bill over Wal-Mart ultimatum - Washington Post

Some sobering statistics to consider

• According to NELP real wages fall across the board by 2.8 percent between 2009 and 2012 and real wages for five of the top 10 lower-wage jobs (restaurant cooks, food prep workers, home health aides, personal care aides and housekeepers) fell by more than 5 percent during that period and 58 percent of all recovery growth being in low-paying jobs.
• In 1968, minimum wage was $10.71. Since then, it has decreased by 32 percent, resulting in millions of Americans working full-time hours and yet being unable to feed their families without assistance. Escaping poverty became, and is, a struggle. Of course, that isn’t true — the minimum wage in 1968 wasn’t $10.71. It was $1.60. However, $1.60 doesn’t have as much buying power as it used to, and when adjusted for inflation (as of today, June 29, 2013), that number is $10.71. Minimum wage was designed to increase with inflation. It has not done so.
• According to the USDA, in 2011, 14.9 percent of Americans (roughly 50 million individuals) had difficulty securing food "meaning that the food intake of one or more household members was reduced and their eating patterns were disrupted at times during the year because the household lacked money and other resources for food."
• Global food prices continue to rise, "Continuing a decade-long increase, global food prices rose 2.7 percent in 2012,,," devaluing SNAP benefits by 7%.
• According to the Center on Budget and Policy Prioritiesr SNAP provides estimated 22 million children a nutritionally adequate diet; 47% of all SNAP recipients are children.

Currently welfare as a whole falls under the 1996 reform law signed by President Clinton, though controlled by individual states, the federal government provides some of the funding through Temporary Assistance For Needy Families (TANF). TANF grants to states require that all welfare recipients must find work within two years of first receiving benefits. This includes single parents, who are required to work at least 30 hours per week. Two-parent families are required to work 35 to 50 hours per week. Failure to obtain work could result in loss of benefits.

Despite this, the House Republicans have introduced a bill that would cut $40 billion from SNAP over 10 years. Their reasoning, SNAP has been taken advantage of by people who aren't willing to work hard enough. For a bit of perspective, in 2012, our total underlying cost for SNAP $65 billion. But yet we spent $689 billion on the Department of Defense.

What's even more troubling, many co-called conservatives are jumping on a recent study by the CATO Institute which has concluded that welfare provides too high a level of benefits: "Welfare currently pays more than a minimum wage job in 35 states, even after accounting for the Earned Income Tax Credit, and in 13 states it pays more than $15 per hour.,,,[m]oreover, states should consider ways to shrink the gap between the value of welfare and work by reducing current benefit levels and tightening eligibility requirements."

So instead of taking that as a sign that minimum wage has stagnated and is too low, they are intent on slashing much needed help for the unemployed and underemployed. Also not being taken into consideration by conservatives and pundits (Faux News):

They [Michael Tanner and Charles Hughes at the CATO Institute] also acknowledge the central flaw in their conclusion: in real life the “typical” family in their study doesn’t come close to receiving the maximum benefit from every single program for which they’re eligible. But here the authors’ caveat doesn’t go far enough. Due largely to the fact that eligibility requirements have already become harder to overcome, these programs are helping fewer poor families get by. In 2009, around three out of four poor families with kids weren’t getting any TANF benefits. At the height of the economic crash, about 25 percent of those eligible for food stamps weren’t receiving them; during better times, that number hovers around 40 percent. And as the CATO study concedes, six out of seven poor families aren’t getting housing assistance.

So a study that claims to tell us about the “typical” poor family is really describing a rarity — the equivalent of a four-leaf clover. But the purpose of these studies isn’t to inform good policymaking. They feed a narrative that the poor are lazy and undeserving, and provide wonky cover for further weakening our social safety net. When studies like this one are picked up by the conservative media, all of the authors’ caveats tend to be stripped away, and they become straightforward claims that poor families sit back enjoying a good life, forcing overburdened tax-payers to pick up the tab. [Emphasis mine]

What I don't understand, how is the economic downturn we are trying to overcome now any different than what occurred in the 1930's? Why was it proper for the US government to intercede then but not now? Our country, our government, has a long history of helping the unemployed and underemployed dating back to the 1860s with the Civil War Pension Program; further still if you consider the colonies imported the British Poor Laws. Why are people making less money than when I was four years old?

Walmart Will Begin Offering Same-Sex Domestic Partnership Benefits In 2014 | ThinkProgress

The teaser line read "The nation's largest employer to offer benefits to same-sex domestic partners." Intrigued I just had to see who it was that was taking such a bold step forward. Imagine my surprise and disgust when I discovered it was Walmart.

Disgust? But it's a good thing isn't it?

Yes, disgust. Walmart employs approximately 1.3 million workers in the US through it 4500 stores. Thought they do not release actual figures in regard to the percentage of full-time workers, a recent report found that just that one, 300-empolyee Wisconsin Supercenter store costs taxpayers at least $904,542 per year and could cost taxpayers up to $1,744,590 per year.” Now multiply that by 50 stores per states.

Since 2009 Walmart refuses to disclose the number of associates covered by their healthcare plan. At that time is was 52% with the company paying about 66% of the cost. But recently Walmart stopped offering health insurance to part-time employees (working less than 24 hours per week). Factoring in the numbers above, I am guessing that less than 52% of their employees are now covered.

Yes, disgust when you consider, "In state after state, the largest group of Medicaid recipients is Walmart employees. I'm sure that the same thing is true of food stamp recipients. Each Walmart "associate" costs the taxpayers an average of more than $1,000 in public assistance." Or so says Alan Grayson's in his HuffPo column My Thanksgiving: A Turkey Sandwich at Walmart from 2102. For once, a politician got it right according to a list from Good Jobs First.

Yes, disgust that the Walton family refuses to pay their 1.3 million US workers a living wage. There is a common misconception that if minimum wage were to be increased the cost of said increase will be passed on to consumers. I'm not disputing that, what I am disputing is that this does not have to happen, Walmart does not need to follow the mindset of its founder Sam Walton, "I pay low wages. I can take advantage of that. We're going to be successful, but the basis is a very low-wage, low-benefit model of employment."

Instead of treating their employees like lowly peons and cogs in a wheel, maybe they should leave their draconian obsession with cost containment, including aggressive control of employee benefits and wages, in the past where it belongs. As Thom Hartmann opines in his recent Op for AlterNet:

A job that pays a living wage isn’t just good for the workers who get to take home a livable paycheck, it’s good for other business owners and the economy as a whole. Businesses need people with a reasonable income to buy their goods. When workers are paid so little that they can barely afford to eat, they can’t spend additional money and as a result, the entire economy suffers. This is economics 101.

[,,,]
The point here is that it is possible for companies to pay their workers a living wage, make money, and give their customers an excellent product, all at the same time. The idea that we have to choose between paying workers well and having successful businesses is just false. That choice only exists when the owners insist on squeezing billions out of their workers.

Yes disgust. When the real reason for such a bold announcement is meant to distract from their renewed "Buy American" campaign which was deemed an utter failure the first go round. Some have been so bold as to label it a sham

Yes disgust. When one considers their human rights abuses,,, but I think you see my point. Walmart and other businesses that that espouse this draconian obsession with a cost containment "business" model should be shunned. Making such a bold claim as above only exposes their true agenda.. They are not offering anything of value to their workers and the only value is to the company in the form of PR. If Walmart wants to do some good they would get their employees off the dole by paying a decent livable wage, offering the option of insurance to all their employees whether full or part-time, and truly buy American.

Walmart Will Begin Offering Same-Sex Domestic Partnership Benefits In 2014 | ThinkProgress

Largest fast food strike ever today: 58 cities will be affected - Salon.com

Fast food workers today plan to mount one-day walkouts against nearly a thousand stores in over fifty cities — the largest-ever mobilization against their growing, low-wage, non-union industry, which until last fall had never faced a substantial U.S. strike. The work stoppage comes four weeks after a four-day, seven-city strike wave in which organizers say thousands walked off the job.

Today, the strikes – which started with a single-city November work stoppage in New York — are expected to hit several cities. In each city – from Los Angeles to Peoria – workers are demanding a raise to $15 an hour, and the chance to form a union without intimidation by their boss.

“I’m not a kid,” Raleigh, North Carolina, Little Caesar’s worker Julio Wilson told Salon. Rather, he said, “I am a single father, I have a daughter with special needs that needs attending to on a daily basis.” He said many of his co-workers and their families “need to be compensated to be able to live.”

Wilson, 34, first learned about the campaign when he saw a striking New York workers on TV. “They kind of sparked my interest,” he said, and led him to search online for a local organization tied to the cause. Over the past eight years, he’s worked at Burger King, Subway, Arby’s and McDonald’s. “I’ve made my way through the fast food circuit,” said Wilson, “and they’re all the same.”

Asked about the coming strike, McDonald’s e-mailed, “The story promoted by the individuals organizing these events does not provide an accurate picture of what it means to work at McDonald’s.” The company said it “aims to offer competitive pay and benefits to our employees” and that “Our history is full of examples of individuals who worked their first job with McDonald’s and went on to successful careers both within and outside of McDonald’s.” A recent study by the pro-labor National Employment Law Project found that “only 2.2 percent of jobs in the fast food industry are managerial, professional, or technical occupations,” and that the average pay for a front-line fast food worker is $8.94 per hour.

Largest fast food strike ever today: 58 cities will be affected - Salon.com

Colbert on the Consequences of Raising the Minimum Wage—It Would Eliminate a Lot of Poor People | Alternet

"It pains me that in a country of such wealth as ours, so many live in poverty," Stephen Colbert opened a segment on the minimum wage and the growing activism of low-wage workers last night. "It pains me even more when those people won't shut up whining about it — 'I want a union, I want a living wage, I want all my fingers,'" he joked.

He then exclaimed about how fast food workers are demanding a doubling of their paltry wages to $15 an hour. "What do they think? That those arches are made of gold?"

Colbert on the Consequences of Raising the Minimum Wage—It Would Eliminate a Lot of Poor People | Alternet

If a Business Won't Pay a Living Wage, It Shouldn't Exist

The point here is that it is possible for companies to pay their workers a living wage, make money, and give their customers an excellent product, all at the same time. The idea that we have to choose between paying workers well and having successful businesses is just false. That choice only exists when the owners insist on squeezing billions out of their workers.

A living wage isn’t just something corporations owe their workers, it’s something corporations owe America.

If a Business Won't Pay a Living Wage, It Shouldn't Exist

36 Senators Introduce Bill Prohibiting Virtually Any New Law Helping Workers | ThinkProgress

More than three-quarters of the Senate Republican caucus signed onto legislation introduced Wednesday by Sens. Tom Coburn (R-OK) and Rand Paul (R-KY) that could render it virtually impossible for Congress to enact any legislation intended to improve working conditions or otherwise regulate the workplace. Had their bill been in effect during the Twentieth Century, for example, there would likely be no nationwide minimum wage, no national ban on workplace discrimination, no national labor law and no overtime in most industries.

,,,It’s named the “Enumerated Powers Act of 2013,” a reference to the provisions of the Constitution outlining Congress’ specific powers, and it claims to require all federal legislation to “’contain a concise explanation of the specific authority in the Constitution’ that is the basis for its enactment.”

The key provision in this bill, however, would revive a discredited interpretation of the Constitution that America abandoned nearly eight decades ago. Although the text of the bill is not yet available online, a press release from Coburn’s office explains that it “[p]rohibits the use of the Commerce Clause, except for ‘the regulation of the buying and selling of goods or services, or the transporting for those purposes, across boundaries with foreign nations, across State lines, or with Indian tribes.’”

36 Senators Introduce Bill Prohibiting Virtually Any New Law Helping Workers | ThinkProgress

Daily Kos: Minimum wage going up in 10 states on New Year's Day

In nine states, the minimum wage increases because it is indexed to inflation, rising with the cost of living. Rhode Island passed a law raising its minimum wage in June, which takes effect Jan. 1. Nine other states and the District of Columbia have minimum wages above the federal rate of $7.25 an hour.

Daily Kos: Minimum wage going up in 10 states on New Year's Day


Compare that to this,,,

In accordance with the Annual Wage Review decision by Fair Work Australia earlier this month, the National Minimum Wage increases by 2.9 per cent to $606.40 per week, or $15.96 per hour

Australia’s new pay rates take effect from July 1,
28 June 2012

see also: Fair Work, Fair Pay: Lessons From Australia

Of course, exchange rates go up and down over time. But at $21.25 Australian dollars an hour, it doesn't matter what exchange rate you use or how you adjust for cost of living. The simple fact is that an Australian entry-level fast food worker makes more than the average American worker. An absolute majority of Americans would increase their income if they moved to Australia and got fast food jobs.

And then there is this little gem,,,

In 2005, Bachmann told the Minnesota state Senate that abolishing the minimum wage could “wipe out unemployment completely.” When Good Morning America‘s George Stephanopoulos asked her for evidence to back up that claim today, Bachmann struggled to find an answer, initially dodging the question before finally referring to the minimum wage as a regulation that is “inhibiting job growth” and saying it needed to be examined:

Michele Bachmann Advocates Abolishing Minimum Wage