GOVERNMENT RELATIONS ALERT
A fair minimum wage is central to the struggle for economic and social justice. Individuals who work full-time, year-round should not have to raise their families in poverty. It should not be better to be unemployed in at least 10 other industrialized countries than to be fully employed in the United States. And people forced off the welfare rolls into minimum wage jobs should have a real chance to become "self-sufficient."
Therefore, NASW is among the organizations spearheading an effort led by Senator Edward M. Kennedy (D-MA) and Rep. David E. Bonior (D-MI) to begin to provide a basic living wage for all who work. Sen. Kennedy and Rep. Bonior plan to introduce the American Family Fair Minimum Wage Act when the 105th Congress returns for its second session on January 27, 1998.
The goal of the first step in the minimum wage campaign is to convince as many members of both the House and Senate as possible to become cosponsors of the bill before it is introduced. A large number of original cosponsors will increase the likelihood that the legislation will become law.
The American Family Fair Minimum Wage Act would increase the minimum wage by $.50 in 1998, 1999, and 2000 and by $.30 in 2001 and 2002. The total increase, to $7.25 an hour by 2002, would return the minimum wage to the buying power it had in 1980.
Following a hotly-contested battle in 1996, Congress enacted a $.90 minimum wage increase which took effect in two stages--from $4.25 to $4.75 an hour on October 1, 1996 and then to $5.15 on September 1, 1997. However even at $5.15 an hour, the income of a family of three in which someone works full-time, full-year still falls $1,600 below the federal poverty level.
HOW TO CONTACT YOUR MEMBERS
By Telephone. Call the Capitol Switchboard and ask for your Member’s office. For Senators the number is: 202-224-3121. For Representatives: 202-225-3121. Or find direct line numbers (as well as fax numbers and District office telephone numbers) through NASW’s website: click on "Links", then "Government & Advocacy," then "Contacting Congress."
When you call, ask to speak to the staff person handling the minimum wage issue. If staff is unavailable, leave a message on voice mail or with the receptionist urging the Member to cosponsor the American Family Fair Minimum Wage Act.
By Letter.
For all Senators:
The Honorable (first name, last name)
United States Senate
Washington, DC 20510
For all Representatives:
The Honorable (first name, last name)
U.S. House of Representatives
Washington, DC 20515
By E-mail. Congressional offices, which have e-mail addresses, can be accessed through NASW’s website: click on "Links," then "Government & Advocacy," and then "Contacting Congress."
BASIC MESSAGE
As a professional social worker (or on behalf of the (number) members of the (state) Chapter of the National Association of Social Workers), who (is or are) knowledgeable about the economic struggles faced by low-wage workers, I urge Senator (last name) or Representative (last name) to cosponsor the American Family Fair Minimum Wage Act. Families headed by minimum wage workers who work full-time, full-year should not live below the federal poverty level, as they do now. The massive loss of jobs predicted prior to the last minimum wage increase failed to materialize. Instead, millions of workers and their families benefited. I hope the Senator (or Representative) will sign onto the bill and work to ensure that people who work hard, day in and day out, are fairly compensated.
Additional information to enhance your telephone, letter, or e-mail message follows.
In 1996, the debate over whether to raise the minimum wage focused almost exclusively on whether the increase would force low-wage employers to lay off employees. Research earlier this year on the "disemployment effects" found that the first phase of the increase resulted in no significant job losses for workers (Bernstein and Schmitt 1997). In fact, the Wall Street Journal (WSJ), which called the minimum wage increase "one of the nonevents of 1997" reported that at least one fast food chain in Washington, DC saw its profits increase by 11 percent. (WSJ, October 27, 1997).
According to the Economic Policy Institute (EPI), the minimum wage debate’s narrow focus on the potential loss of jobs failed to take into account the important benefits of the increase for low-wage workers. From research based on the October 1, 1996 increase (from $4.25 to $4.75), EPI cites the following:
- Close to 10 million workers will benefit from the full $.90 increase.
- These workers are mostly female (58 percent) and mostly adult (71 percent).
- Nearly half of the affected workers (46 percent) work full time, while another 33 percent work between 20 and 34 hours per week.
- The minimum wage primarily benefits low-income families.
- 57 percent of the gains from the increase will go to working families in the bottom 40 percent of the income scale.
- In 18 states, more than 10 percent of the workforce is affected by the increase.
The decline in the real value of the minimum wage has contributed to the growing economic inequality.
- From 1950 to 1978, real family income grew for the top 20 percent by 99 percent and for the bottom 20 percent by 138 percent, but from 1979-1995, real family income for the top 20 percent of Americans increased by 26 percent, while it decreased by 9 percent for the bottom 20 percent.
- From 1980 through 1995, the minimum wage increased by 37 percent. But during that same 15 year period, inflation increased by 86 percent, company profits increased by 145 percent and CEO pay increased by 499 percent.
- In the past 30 years, the stock market, adjusted for inflation, has gone up by 115 percent, while the purchasing power of the minimum wage has gone down by 30 percent.
Quote from Franklin D. Roosevelt: "No business which depends for existence on paying less than living wages to its workers has any right to continue in this country. By living wages I mean more than a bare subsistence level--I mean the wages of decent living."