Highest minimum wage.

[Be Brave]

Heard this on the radio this morning. The two states with the highest minimum wage rates are Washington and Oregon, with $7.35 and $7.25 per hour respectively, effective January 2005. By law, the minimum wage in those states has to increase every year. Meanwhile, the federal minimum wage is pegged at $5.15 (I think). What's the minimum wage in other states? What's keeping the rest of the states from following Washington's and Oregon's lead?

[merwin]

1. What's keeping them? The GOP is my guess... n/t

[purduejake]

3. Isn't $5.15 the min. wage in some blue states, too?

[La Lioness Priyanka]

29. yes...the fear is a rush of businesses to move into states with

lower wage minimums.

[purduejake]

2. They just don't care.

Until the min. wage workers start voting and working for campaigns, they will be marginalized. Well, how in the hell are they supposed to do this when they are struggling to survive and can't afford to miss work to vote? I don't know.

[Kool Kitty]

4. Perhaps they should make it easier to vote,

by making Election Day a national holiday. Then more people wouldn't have to miss work. Or just go ahead and raise the minimum wage for the whole country. You can bet that if politicians were paid the minimum wage, it sure as hell would be higher.

[gaia_gardener]

8. That wouldn't make it easier to

vote for minimum wage earners. They end up working most national holidays. And if they don't, they don't get paid. Having worked as a temp and as a minimum wage earner, I can tell you I didn't appreciate holidays at all. All they meant was a reduction in my paycheck with no way to make it up.

[EC]

5. Right to Work Committee

Tells states that if they raise labor costs and corporation taxes, they can forget getting any corps to come to their states. Rather state governments are blackmailed...

[Be Brave]

7. "Committee"? Sounds like a lobby group to me.

Thanks for educating me.

[EC]

15. It is now

started back in the 70's in southern states. Sending out newsletters etc. telling employers how to break Unions and cut labor costs. You know now...part-time help/no benefits...temp services...make jobs as easy as possible making employee easily replaced...fire at will policies, (rather no more 2 weeks notice or grievance procedure). On and on, until you see the workplace of today...

[Be Brave]

18. Talk about moving backward instead of making progress. n/t

[Left coast liberal]

6. I would say the US Chamber of Commerce nt

[bobbazabrak]

9. what should the minimum wage be?

[imenja]

14. $30,000?

Depending on location and cost of housing.

[firebee]

16. No... really.. 7 dollars an hour should be minimum wage...

Anything less than that is homeless with the cost of living these days. Sorry... the CEO's brought inflation upon us and now we have to raise the minimum wage in order to offset the inflation.

[OneTwentyoNine]

24. $280.00 per week?? 14,000 per year??

Thats if your lucky enough to get a full 40 hours. Shit,you could starve to death here in the mid-west on that kind of money,I can imagine where it would get you in other locations.

Here's an example of what MW got you back in the early 70's. I worked at a carwash in high school and made $1.65 per hour--that was minimum wage. A gallon of gas was between .20-.25 depending on "gas wars". Do the math,work ONE hour and buy 7.17 gallons of gas based at .23 per gallon.

At todays average fuel price around here you'd have to make $12.90 per hour to buy the same 7.17 gallons. Look at rent,house costs,vehicle costs. The MW worker purchasing power has not stayed on par with MW raises,its been reduced by 60% or more on most things.

[unpossibles]

25. read this - great article, good graphs

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=104&topic_id=2894430&mesg_id=2894430&page=

[mycatforpresident]

39. Here's another source:

"The purchasing power of the minimum wage has decreased sharply over the years since 1968 as Figure 1 demonstrates graphically. For example, the $1.60 minimum wage in 1968 is equal to $7.36 expressed in 1997 dollars. The purchasing power of the current $5.15 minimum wage is $2.21 an hour below its purchasing power in 1968."

http://www.adaction.org/mwbook.html

[Be Brave]

40. Well, one probably has to work 10 hours per day, seven days a week

to get by on $7/hour. And one probably shouldn't have a child. And don't get sick.

[newyawker99]

32. Hi bobbazabrak!!

Welcome to DU!! :toast:

[HamiltonHabs32]

10. here in Canada

We our employers have to allow you time off during the day to go and vote, 2 hrs If im not mistaking, I dont't have the rule book here infront of me but I believe the 2hrs is on the clock aswell. Min wage here in Ontario is 7.35

[Be Brave]

11. 7.35 Canadian dollars? n/t

[rainbow4321]

13. Ont. set to increase minimum wage for second time in as many years

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=1845&ncid=1845&e=9&u=/cpress/20050103/ca_pr_on_na/ont_minimum_wage


The 400,000 people who work for minimum wage in Ontario should not be left solely at the mercy of governments to get a raise, said Labour Minister Chris Bentley. Ontario will increase its minimum wage as scheduled Feb. 1 by 30 cents an hour to $7.45, building on a 30 cent per hour hike introduced by the Liberal government last year.


"We made sure it was going to go up automatically so it was removed from public debate up to Feb. 1, 2007," said Bentley. He said the previous Conservative governments totally ignored the plight of people working for minimum wage, even though Ontario's economy was booming at the time, with both inflation and wages for most workers rising an average of 16 per cent.

Ontario's general minimum wage is scheduled to increase again Feb. 2006 to $7.75 an hour and on Feb. 2007 to $8.00 an hour, and Bentley wants some sort of annual review of the rate.

[Be Brave]

17. Good for them. n/t

[GOPBasher]

26. Canada kicks ass in every way. I wish we were more like you.

[achtung_circus]

45. The law is

four uninterrrupted hours. Whether you get time off from work depends on your hours of work and when the polls close in your area.

If polls close at 8:00 and you get off at 4:00= no time off.

[imenja]

12. $6.15 in Fla

According to a constitutional amendment passed on Nov. 2. I'm not sure when the new wage takes effect.

[sbj405]

19. From the department of labor

You can check out what your state is and also if there any increases scheduled soon. A lot of states have not state laws and just go w/ the $5.15 federal wage.
http://www.dol.gov/esa/minwage/america.htm

[OneTwentyoNine]

21. And here in Kansas we have the lowest ANYWHERE..

$2.65 per hour if you job isn't covered by the Fair Labor Act. Its a fucking disgrace that my State does this to workers.

The Repuke response is that these workers make $50.00 per hour with tips. Oh yeah sure...ask how many work two jobs just to make ends meet.

[tyedyeto]

27. When I moved to AZ 3 years ago,

I made $2.50 an hour as a server in a restaurant. The employer is supposed to make up the difference to $5.15 per hour if you don't make enough in tips that day. It doesn't look like AZ will ever have a minimum wage that is higher than the national minimum.

BTW, I have never made $50.00 per hour as a server and I have been in the restaurant industry for close to 20 years.

[OneTwentyoNine]

34. With no State MW law wouldn't they have to pay Federal MW?

I see there are several other States with no MW laws,without one I would think they'd be forced to pay every worker at least Federal MW.

Side note,look at Kansas once again. No overtime until 46 hours,only Minnesota is worse. This is a GD disgrace.....

[tyedyeto]

49. The employer does have to make sure that each employee makes ...........

the federal minimum wage. They just don't have to pay the minimum wage to begin with. For example....if you make 2.50 per hour and you work a 6 hour shift, you make 15.30 for the hourly rate and you would have to make at least 21.90 in tips to make up to the minimum.....if you only made 20.00 in tips, your employer would be required to pay you the extra 1.90 to make up that difference.

But, who can live on %5.15 per hour???? That is the question. I sure couldn't.

[Laughing Mirror]

20. In France it's 7.61€, worth $10.17 in today's dollar

Still not enough.

[Taxloss]

31. £4.85 in the UK ($9.23).

Not enough, as the UK cost of living is highers.

[OneTwentyoNine]

22. Thats why I support and shop at Target,they pay above the FMW

There's a Walmart 1000 feet away but Target starts its employee's at nearly $2.00 per hour MORE. My 16 year old daughter works at a Super Target. Started in at $7.00,now makes $7.25 after four months.

I'm guessing there are workers at Walmart that aren't up to that wage after several YEARS of working for those jerks. I don't care if Target gives more to Repukes than Dems,I'll support them.

[Be Brave]

38. Thanks for making me aware of Target's wage scheme. n/t

[Cuban_Liberal]

23. $6.50/hr. in IIlinois.

:)

[Technocrat058]

28. Small Business Owners

The members of the GOP believe that by increasing the minimum wage (Which is based on the AVERAGE cost of living in the Union) would hurt small business owners. There are however ways around this, as well as several possible conditions if raising the minimum wage were considered. One would be to make a concession for small business owners (i.e. let them raise wages a certain percentage each year for say two to three years to ease into the new minimum wage). There are of course other ways of doing this. As for the higher minimum wages in Oregon and Washington I am not aware of the cost of living in Washington, but in Oregon, specifically Portland, it is much higher than the national average. Personally I think states should be lobbied to have their minimum wages increased, since there might actually be a chance of getting something done at that level.

[newyawker99]

33. Hi Technocrat058!!

Welcome to DU!! :toast:

[Be Brave]

35. Portland, Oregon is one of the most "livable" cities in the nation.

I know someone who lives there comfortably on a graduate student's stipend with a wife and kid. And I would be willing to bet that the cost of living in Oregon is one of the lowest in the country.

[libpunkmom]

41. I live in Downtown Portland

the average cost for a 2 bdr apartment in downtown is $1200(and up) per month. Food actually cost more downtown. My best friend lives in NE Portland. We can both go to Safeway, buy the exact same item on the exact same day and I will pay anywhere from 10-35 cents more per item. Cost of living in Downtown Portland is extremely high. But please don't misunderstand. I love living where I do, and believe me, I pay a small fortune to do it. Oh also, Multnomah County, is the only county in the state of Oregon with a County Tax. So those of us is Portland pay that as well. And as far has housing, lots of new condo's going up in the Pearle District (NW Portland) my husband and I looked into 4 different new buildings, the cheapest 2 bdr condo was $350,000. Does your friend live in Downtown Portland or in an outer area? Just curious, because if they are a family of 3 living in Downtown on a grad student's stipend, I really want to know where (mainly because I'm really jealous if they are), because I'm constantly looking for a new place in Downtown(my current rent for a 2bdr is $1650).

[Be Brave]

44. I'm pretty sure he doesn't live downtown.

But, aaaak, I don't remember where in Portland. I'm not too familiar with the place. I live 100 miles south, where I pay $625 for a decent 2-bedroom, and I have no complaints. I can understand why you love living in Portland. It's a beautiful city. I do love Oregon. I'd stay here if jobs did not take me elsewhere.

[libpunkmom]

47. I do love Downtown

Even though for a family of 3 it's getting really expensive. I live 4 blocks from the Art Musuem, 3 blocks from Safeway, the Public transportation is so great I haven't owned a car in 14 years now. I love it here, I'm orignally from SE Texas, but the job market is getting so tight here, I'm afraid we might have to eventually move somewhere (if there is anywhere anymore) with more jobs and lower cost of living.

[WLKjr]

43. That actually makes sense putting it that way. n/t

[AllegroRondo]

30. A related fact of interest

A common argument I hear from Repubs is that minimum wage earners are all high school kids who still live at home and dont need that much money.

but only 25% of all minimum wage earners are age 19 or under.

[Be Brave]

36. Thank you for making me aware of another

Repug talking point.

[DemGirl7]

37. I think the state of New York got increased the Minimum wage

a dollar from $5.15 to $6.15.

[WLKjr]

42. oxey moron?? highest minumum wage???

It should move with the cost of living, last I checked, it was DAMN FUCKING HARD TO FUNCTION ON 5.25/hr. IMHO, it should at least be 7 even right now.

[CatholicEdHead]

46. Exactly

It should have a inflation increase in it. It needs a big bump to catch up and then a 2-4% increase per year.

[WLKjr]

48. Yeah they should calculate for that

at least once every 1-2 years or so, becuase I mean damn, I make only 7.45/hr, and barely come out with enough gas money to get myself to and from school 2-3 times a week and I have to commute 75+ miles one way! good thing I drive a really small car. Insurance? regretably not at the moment, but looking for something cheap enough for me to afford. the list goes on and on.

[bobbieinok]

50. minimum wage in Germany

http://www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0,1564,1123026,00.html


25.02.2004

Germans Debate Introducing National Minimum Wage

....

With relatively generous wages and the shortest working week on the continent, workers in Germany are likely the envy of many of their European counterparts. But unlike their counterparts in many other countries on the continent, they don't have the protection of a statutory minimum wage.

....

Leading the rallying call for a new system of wage payments is head of the service industry union Verdi, Frank Bsirske. Against a backdrop of new regulations which will slash benefits of the long-term unemployed refusing to take a 'reasonable' job -- this could be poorly paid employment for which the applicant is overqualified or which could require relocation -- Bsirske told Berliner Zeitung that forcing people into jobs they can't live from would put greater pressure on wages. On that basis, Germany should think about introducing a statutory minimum wage, he said.

Bsirske received backing from the head of the German trade union federation, Michael Sommer. "Those looking for salvation in a far-reaching low-wage sector will fail in the long-term," Sommer told Fuldaer Zeitung. Further endorsement came from Franz-Josef Möllenberg the head of the food and restaurant workers' union, NGG. "I am convinced it is the right way forward," Möllenberg told Berliner Zeitung on Wednesday, adding that the minimum wage rate should be set at around €1,500 ($1,899) per month. The figure would be top the current high of €1,402 in Luxembourg.

....