“We need to raise the minimum wage in Massachusetts significantly and
soon. For the last 16 years Republican governors have stood in the way of progress. More and more Massachusetts families have fallen behind and have ultimately left our state in search of lives that are, well… more affordable. Minimum wage workers have fallen even farther behind. Today, a family surviving on a minimum wage income can truly be called “the working poor.”
“Today I worked along side the employees at Mike’s Pastry in Boston’s North End to discuss the importance raising the minimum wage would have on Massachusetts families. While some states have raised their minimum wage in recent years, in Massachusetts, the minimum wage has been stagnant. Why? Because the Republicans in the Governor’s office haven’t gotten results. They haven’t brought Massachusetts together, even on this issue, which is so clearly supported by people across the political spectrum.”
“Workers need a Governor who will watch out for them,” said Mike’s Pastry owner Angelo Papa. “I believe in paying people good pay for good work, its just good business. When the minimum wage is raised I will follow suit with my employees. It’s the right thing to do.”
“Recently, the legislature increased the minimum wage to $8.00 – and the Romney-Healey Administration might veto it. The Romney-Healey Administration opposes indexing the minimum wage to inflation, instead leaving the minimum wage to the Governor’s discretion. Our Republican Governors haven’t earned the right to be trusted with the minimum wage – and we certainly can’t trust Kerry Healey to put the interests of hard-working families first.”
“I support increasing the minimum wage to $8.25 an hour and indexing the minimum wage to inflation. As Governor, I’ll work with the legislature to get it done.”
Massachusetts can do better for low-income families – and it starts with paying a respectable wage for an honest day’s work. I know that raising the minimum wage to $8.25 won’t solve all the problems of low income families, but it’ll get us started. And as you’ve heard me say before, I can’t wait to get started.
Sincerely,
Chris Gabrieli
and it’s the one that Tom Reilly called for on March 23.
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$1.75 then is about $7.50 now; .31 then is about $1.85 now and $261 then is about $1565 now. So, according to the nifty inflation calculator the minimum wage is about spot on with inflation while gas is too high joined by through-the-roof tuition.
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Price controls on higher education and petrol anyone?
if $1.75 wasn’t enough in 1965, then $7.50 wouldn’t be enough in 2006, right? Therein lies the answer to whether the inflation calculator really tells us anything about what people need to live on.
But does every job have to pay you enough to live on?
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I’m not convinced.
Since we’re talking about raising the state minimum wage, shouldn’t we be using the local CPI to calculate the effects of inflation?
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Go to this page and select the fifth checkbox and submit. This will give you the CPI for the Boston area (as opposed to the general national CPI).
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I don’t have a “nifty inflation calculator”, but you can see that in Jan 1965, the CPI was 32.2 and the most recent reading is 222.9. That’s a 6.9:1 ratio, meaning that $1.25 in 1965 would be worth $8.62 today.
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I don’t think $8 is enough, but it’s probably the best we’ll get any time soon.
Why do these politicians always pick Mike’s?
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Maria’s might not be as flashy but I think most of her pastries are better. The shop is run by Maria and her sister, Antonia. Chances are, if you stop in this summer, one of them will be away for her regular visit to Italy to spend time with the extended family…
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Maria’s is just near the corner of Salem Street, on what I think used to be called the Central Artery surface road–whazit called now I wonder?…
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btw I’d support a minimum wage of $10/ hr, so I’ll be calling Mitt to ask him to sign the current bill as a start.