A REAL THREAT TO WORKING PEOPLE IN THE SENATE
Thanks to Norwood for the heads up on this important issue.
A vote coming up as early as today could mean the end to several vital protections to working people everywhere.
The U.S. Senate is considering bankruptcy legislation which includes proposals to raise the minimum wage for the first time in eight years, but an amendment submitted by the right wing champion, Pennsylvania Republican Rick Santorum would mean major changes to many workers...and many of them are not good!
Santorum's proposal would raise the minimum wage by $1.10 over 18 months in two steps of 55 cents each --- compared to the Democrats' plan to up the minimum wage to $7.25 in three increments over 26 months. But Santorum's plan also:
--- Allows businesses to use "flex time" scheduling, in which workers' schedules could be adjusted over a two week period and business would not have to pay overtime for those weeks in which an employee works more than 40 hours.
--- Allows tips to be credited for purposes of complying with any future minimum wage increases in states where tips are not now credited. Thus, restaurant and bar workers would be thouorghly screwed in many cases.
--- Double the ceiling of the amount in receipts that a company would be exempt from the federal Fair Labor Standards Act to one million dollars. The FLSA sets standards for minimum wages, overtime, and record keeping.
It will take 60 votes in the Senate for either amendment to pass, not a given. And it would face a tougher road in the House. But it's just more evidence that right wing hypocrites such as Santorum don't give a rat's behind about the vast majority of working people; only the business owners and corporations.
1 Comments:
Minimum wage laws amount to an unfair tax on certain kinds of businesses. This tax disproportionately affects small businesses and businesses that utilize unskilled labor. This is why many Democrats also oppose minimum wage increases, especially at the federal level.
Even if you thought minimum wage laws were a good idea that helped working poor, it makes even less sense to have a federal minimum wage, since the labor market varies in different parts of the country in terms of median wages and cost of living.
If your goal is to have a wealth transfer to help poor workers, then a minimum wage law is a terribly inefficient means of achieving that goal. A huge tax on only certain kinds of business which also diverts a substantial portion of that tax to homes which are not poor (since teenagers and those living with their parents make up a large % of minimum wage earners) is a highly inefficient way of helping the poor.
It would be much efficient and equitable to impose such a tax on all income earners, and through different kinds of taxes. An increase in the earned income tax credit might be a start.
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