Minimum Wage Thesis
During a ‘fireside chat’ days before President Roosevelt signed the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 into law, he said, “Do not let any calamity-howling executive with an income of $1,000 a day, ...tell you that a wage of $11 a week is going to have a disastrous effect on all American industry” (DOL.gov). This was 76 years ago by a Democratic president whose rhetoric sounds like something our current Democratic president would say. President Roosevelt signed the Fair Labor and Standards Act on Saturday June 25, 1938 and which effectively ended child labor in America and mandated an hourly wage of twenty-five cents which affected one in every five workers (DOL.gov). The FLSA also guaranteed workers had a maximum workweek of 44 hours and anything
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over that would have to be compensated for at a higher rate than the normal wage. Now, the standard is 40 hours and overtime pay is typically considered ‘time and a half’.
According to the Legal Information Institute at Cornell University, “The purpose of the minimum wage was to stabilize the post-depression economy and protect the workers in the labor force.
The minimum wage was designed to create a minimum standard of living to protect the health and well-being of employees. Others have argued that the primary purpose was to aid the lowest paid of the nation's working population, those who lacked sufficient bargaining power to secure for themselves a minimum subsistence wage” (law.Cornell.edu). Minimum wage laws and many other labor-related laws weren’t enacted purely because a group of ‘liberal socialists’ wanted to stick it to profitable businesses. There was public call for action about the lack of bargaining power workers had with businesses, much like what we want out of our action plan. Laborers were not being adequately paid for the quality of their work. It goes against what free market advocates say when they argue minimum wage should should not exist or not be raised so that laborers can set their own price for their skills. The reality is that JC Penny is not going to pay a cashier any more than they have to. The concept of having a skill that companies would pay more for exists in the higher pay grades, not at the low-tier level. Low wage workers in general lack skills that would give companies incentive to compete over them; meaning Burger King and Wendy’s are not getting into a bidding war over an applicant who has more
experience salting fries and wiping down tables.
Since 1938, there have been 22 minimum wage increases under 12 presidents. The wage rate is not tied to inflation and therefore has to be approved by Congress. The end goal of our action plan is to have Congress approve this next wage increase. In many instances the wage rate has fallen behind the rising costs for goods and services. “The evidence suggests that the latest proposal to raise the minimum wage would help those earning minimum wage attain a level of income not seen in the U.S. since the late 1960’s” (TIME). “Nearly 21.3 million U.S. workers would be directly affected by raising the minimum wage to $10.10 an hour by 2015” (Pew). These millions of workers account for around 16.4% of the workforce.
over that would have to be compensated for at a higher rate than the normal wage. Now, the standard is 40 hours and overtime pay is typically considered ‘time and a half’.
According to the Legal Information Institute at Cornell University, “The purpose of the minimum wage was to stabilize the post-depression economy and protect the workers in the labor force.
The minimum wage was designed to create a minimum standard of living to protect the health and well-being of employees. Others have argued that the primary purpose was to aid the lowest paid of the nation's working population, those who lacked sufficient bargaining power to secure for themselves a minimum subsistence wage” (law.Cornell.edu). Minimum wage laws and many other labor-related laws weren’t enacted purely because a group of ‘liberal socialists’ wanted to stick it to profitable businesses. There was public call for action about the lack of bargaining power workers had with businesses, much like what we want out of our action plan. Laborers were not being adequately paid for the quality of their work. It goes against what free market advocates say when they argue minimum wage should should not exist or not be raised so that laborers can set their own price for their skills. The reality is that JC Penny is not going to pay a cashier any more than they have to. The concept of having a skill that companies would pay more for exists in the higher pay grades, not at the low-tier level. Low wage workers in general lack skills that would give companies incentive to compete over them; meaning Burger King and Wendy’s are not getting into a bidding war over an applicant who has more
experience salting fries and wiping down tables.
Since 1938, there have been 22 minimum wage increases under 12 presidents. The wage rate is not tied to inflation and therefore has to be approved by Congress. The end goal of our action plan is to have Congress approve this next wage increase. In many instances the wage rate has fallen behind the rising costs for goods and services. “The evidence suggests that the latest proposal to raise the minimum wage would help those earning minimum wage attain a level of income not seen in the U.S. since the late 1960’s” (TIME). “Nearly 21.3 million U.S. workers would be directly affected by raising the minimum wage to $10.10 an hour by 2015” (Pew). These millions of workers account for around 16.4% of the workforce.