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The arguments for and against minimum wages betray much about the characters of the proponents and opponents. We are preparing a number of articles on this topic. In the meantime, consider these arguments made by people opposing payment of a minimum wage for employees: Businesses need low-cost labor to survive. This is the same argument that plantation owners made in the South to justify slavery. Businesses will fold and have to lay off workers who will be out of work. One of the major purveyors of this argument is the Oregon Restaurant Association. They made the same argument the last time we had to vote on raising the minimum wage. But look around at the evidence. Since the last increase in the minimum wage, several new restaurants and coffee shops have opened in Central Oregon. Shari's, Mazatlan and Starbucks (to name just three) have expanded in Central Oregon. The American Prospect archives have excellent articles on minimum and living wages. Go to the magazine's web site and search for "Minimum wage" In the November 2002 election Measure 25 was on the ballot to approve a raise in the minimum wage from $6.50 to $6.90 per hour with annual increases in line with inflation. These are the results of the vote: Statewide: 619,626 (51.35%) voted to raise the minimum wage - 586,987 (48.65%) voted against raising the minimum wage. Deschutes County: 24,285 (48.13%) voted to raise the minimum wage - 25,135 (49.82%) voted against raising the minimum wage. The vote in Eastern Oregon was heavily skewed against increasing the minimum wage. Multnomah County was a major factor in ensuring that the increase was approved in Oregon. Opponents of increasing the minimum wage argued that an increase would be bad for small businesses and the economy. Presumably, they felt it would be appropriate to sacrifice a large segment of the state's population to misery for the benefit of another segment. Articles: A Moral Minimum Wage by Peter Dreier and Kelly Candaele, The Nation. Posted on Alternet December 7, 2004. See also "Poverty" and "Opponents of a Minimum Wage" Oregon Action is active in the campaign for living wages. |
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