Hi All: Just found this story on Yahoo. It shows that seven states are raising the minimum wage due to increasing cost of living expenses.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/201…
It might not be much of a wage increase, but why do legislators get automatic cost of living increases every year, and the poorest of the workers in Massachusetts get nothing?
I would hope that organized labor in conjunction with social justice organizations in Massachusetts would champion this effort. I know that I would have been a champion of this cause if I was the State Senator from my district.
Respectfully Submitted,
Sincerely,
Wayne J. Wilson, Jr.
Roslindale
Please share widely!
A constitutional amendment passed via ballot question a few years back to tie legislators’ pay raises to inflation. That’s why they get an automatic COLA every two years.
Median household income, not inflation. Hester is right.
Why don’t we create a petition for a constitutional amendment to raise the COLA to the Massachusetts Minimum Wage yearly? Sounds like a no brainer to me. Anyone here with Jobs with Justice? Sounds like a good project for the new year. 🙂
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p>Respectfully Submitted,
Sincerely,
Wayne J. Wilson, Jr.
Roslindale
What’s the relationship between the Minimum Wage and Inflation? Does one affect the other?
I’m sure you know this answer to your question:
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p>Inflation devalues the worth of the Minimum Wage amount, bringing it closer to (or farther below) a subsistence wage.
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p>I suspect you’re asking some other question, but I don’t know what it is.
The minimum wage in Massachusetts has historically been pretty high as compared to other states. Right now, it’s at $8. Only 4 or 5 states have a higher one. But, especially because neighboring Connecticut is one of the states with a higher one, it may be time again soon for a campaign to raise ours.
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p>In my experience, legislators are reasonably favorable to raising the minimum wage, but adamantly opposed to indexing it so that it increases automatically, because they feel they don’t get sufficient credit or thanks when that happens. The only indexing they’ve been willing to do is to ensure that the state minimum wage is at least 10 cents per hour higher than the federal, which is $7.25.
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p>Legislators’ pay is tied to the median household income in the state, not to inflation (Amendment 118). I wonder if the Great Recession will result in their pay going down this time?
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Waiters, too.
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p>They’re only paid $2.63 an hour… half of the federal minimum wage of $5.15, back when it $5.15.
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p>Sure, they make tips, and technically if they clear less than $8.00 in an hour their employer has to make up the difference. It’s nonsense though. Pay people minimum wage, and if they make tips, great. However, this idea that the bulk of their wages are subject to customer opinion or bosses willing to comply with the much harder to enforce tip law is a bit silly in my opinion.
The entire concept of a tip is that it is a bonus offered in exchange for excellent service. Paying sub-minimum wage to servers subverts this intent. Another aspect of tipping that too many diners forget is that servers also must share a portion of their tips with support staff like bussers, cooks, and hosts/hostesses.
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p>In today’s Massachusetts, a 20% tip is a bare minimum for adequate service. Good or excellent service merits a 25-30% tip.
I tip 15-20 such that my total bill comes to a round dollar figure (easier math for bookkeeping). I shouldn’t have to pay for them to simply do their jobs – that’s their employers responsibility. I’d prefer that menu prices be raised to cover the wages if necessary. That way customers have a better idea of true cost at the time they order.
I feel the same, most restaurants in Europe (at least Austria, Germany and the UK) and Japan operate this way.
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p>The unfortunate truth is that whatever we should or shouldn’t have to do, servers in the US are always underpaid.
Files a bill every session to index the minimum wage. It is opposed every session by the Chamber, the Retailers Association and most other businesses. These groups always push back and call for a “training wage” that is less than the minimum wage, to be paid to workers 18 and younger (after all these workers aren’t worth a full hourly wage)
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p>I fully support giving a full minimum wage to waiters and waitresses.
A state constitutional was passed that provided it. The previous system was to pass up raises for years, then when pressure increases to get one, they would try to give themselves a raise that would make up for all the years they did without, resulting in midnight raise deals and an understandable furor. This automatic system takes it out of their hands and reduces that chance for chicanery. It’s not unreasonable that they get an annual raise, within the circumstances of the economy, although a standard salary for the position should be established so new electees come in at that level, instead of at the higher salary of longer serving individuals.
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p>As for the minimum wage question. IIRC, doesn’t MA have one of the higher minimum wages, already? Concerning raising it annually, someone hired at the minimum wage who continued working at that job may very well have received an annual pay raise already. Just because someone is hired at minimum, doesn’t mean that they don’t get a raise if the minimum raise doesn’t go up. I do hear you, though. We shouldn’t go for years on end without upgrading that minimum to reflect the new economic situation.
Now we have people tripping over each other to be noble and forego their raises. This shouldn’t be allowed, IMO, as it puts pressure on those who could use the raise. By the same token, Romney should not have been allowed to serve as Governor without a salary, because that gets people accostomed to only electing the independently wealthy.
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p>As for minimum wage it should be $10/hr by now. It has not kept up with purchasing power.
Little Rhody has a two-tier minimum wage: a lower one for persons 19 and under who are declared as dependents on their parents’ tax returns, and a higher minimum wage for emancipated adults. I think the differential is about $2 per hour. I’d be interested to hear what folks think of such approach. Personally, I think it would (with a limitation of no more than six months in each calendar year to assure the focus is on seasonal work) create more summer employment opportunities for high school and college kids. There is social value in developing a work history and work ethic and we should encourage employment opportunities for young workers. Plus, such approach would help to reduce resistance toward future increases in the basic minimum wage to ensure a living wage for people who put in a full 40 hour week and depend on their wages to support themselves. What do you think of this approach?
Hi All:
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p>With the Governor’s announcement regarding reducing executive and legislative salaries, I have reason to believe that some one with the Governor’s office saw my post. Too bad it wasn’t 5% as was first reported today. Then it might be something substantial instead of being purely symbolic.
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p>Respectfully Submitted,
Sincerely,
Wayne J. Wilson, Jr.
Roslindale