NEED FOR INCREASE IN MINIMUM WAGE We have done well for ourselves. We belong to a union that has negotiated good wages, benefits and working conditions. We are able to make choices about how we spend our earnings. We take care of food, shelter, clothing, health, transportation and then decide about saving some and spending on non-essentials. We have done well for ourselves. When Americans came home from World War II our manufacturing plants changed from producing war material to producing consumer goods. Jobs became available at those plants, either on the line, in the office or building and renovating those plants. Unions grew. The modern middle class was created. Everyone had the opportunity to achieve the American Dream. In the final quarter of the last century things began to change. Large stores with less expensive items began to gradually force local proprietors to close. Empty storefronts populated downtown business districts. Malls and big box stores took over once productive farmland outside of town. Consumers’ demand for even cheaper goods caused manufacturing to go offshore where wages were less. Workers became less valuable. They had to compete globally. Manufacturing jobs, the backbone of the modern middle class, left America. Thirty years ago we could buy electronic items, all of our clothes, toys, tools, cars and more that were made in America. The jobs associated with manufacturing are gone. Workers are still here. Where do they work now? Malls, big box stores, restaurants of all kinds employ many of those workers. Workers were once able to get jobs that paid living wages with health insurance and pensions. Now, workers are told by their employers to enroll for welfare to help them make ends meet. But then, people who depend on welfare are vilified for being lazy, uneducated and making poor choices. It is time to raise the minimum wage. We can’t do it here in Indiana because our Republican controlled government passed legislation that forbids local communities from raising the minimum wage. It must be done by Congress. Is it asking too much that people who work fulltime or multiple part-time jobs be given the dignity to provide for themselves and their families? If we cannot offer the jobs that made the modern middle class, shouldn’t we at least provide wages that allow workers to elevate themselves out of poverty? Eric Brown Retiree, former Business Representative (South Bend) and Political Activist From the January 2014 edition of The Craftsman SMWIA LU #20 newsletter
Posted on: Thu, 16 Jan 2014 22:56:07 +0000
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