Weekend RantHave you noticed the tendency of the Bush White House to make gangbuster news announcements on days when there is a huge media story that overshadows its latest dastardly deed? Like on Election Day 2002, when the biggest story in the land was the impending Republican sweep, and Ari Fleischer casually announced the resignation of Treasury Secretary Paul O’Neill. The media barely picked up on W’s admission of economic policy failure.
Well, it happened again. On Saturday, during the national mourning for the space shuttle Columbia, Bush gave us something else to cry about – and lucky for him, no one was listening. We’ll no doubt all hear about it after it passes, when it’s too late. The president, so full of compassion for the wealthy, did Corporate America another favor and took a real hard slap at the low-wage earner. W proposes that we overhaul the portion of the 1938 Fair Labor Standards Act that defines blue-collar and white-collar workers, especially the part that says if you work more than 40 hours a week, you get paid time and a half.
Which brings up this matter of fighting for a “living wage.” Living wage campaigns are sprouting up all over the country. This isn’t a radical idea; it’s just plain common sense. If you have a full-time job, you should make enough money to survive. But it’s minimum wage itself that needs to be overhauled. Doesn’t the president even realize that a minimum-wage worker, logging 40 hours a week -- that’s a full-time job -- makes $10,700 a year before taxes?
The fight for a higher national minimum wage is stymied by those Enron cheerleaders occupying the White House and the majority parties of Congress. But state and local campaigns are succeeding everywhere. Their message is simple: Any company that wants to do business with our state and local governments must pay a living wage to their employees, which right now the federal government defines as $8.40 an hour to keep a family of four above the poverty line.
Last year, in nearby Montgomery County, Progressive Maryland led a successful fight for a living wage bill. It passed the county council last summer, by a 7-1 vote. Now, most for-profits doing business with Montgomery County must pay its employees a minimum wage of $10.50 an hour.
While we’re fighting for the right to vote, affordable health care and safe streets, let’s link arms for low-wage earners in DC. They’re the ones who make the city work. And in the current economic environment, $10,000 a year just isn’t going to cut it.
Living Wage Resources
From the AFL-CIO, States Are Raising Their Minimum Wage Rates Above the Federal Floor
From AFSCME, The "Living Wage" Movement Is Catching On From Coast to Coast
The New Party Living Wage Campaign
Responsible Wealth