The Democratic Party Adopts $15/hour Minimum Wage into National Platform
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http://usuncut.com/news/democratic-party-adopts-15hour-minimum-wage-national-platform-2/
The Democratic Party on Friday adopted a call to raise the minimum wage to $15/hr as part of their established party platform heading into the 2016 election season. The move further polarizes the progressive wing of the party by moving them further to the left of both the Republican Party, and corporate centrist Democrats such as Hillary Clinton.
In response to the Democratic Party’s vote, Terrence Wise, a Kansas City, Mo. McDonald’s and Burger King Worker and member of the National Organizing Committee of the Fight for $15, issued the following statement.
“The Democratic Party’s move shows a growing understanding that $15 an hour is what American workers everywhere need to survive and support their families. When fast-food workers first went on strike three years ago in New York City, most people gave them no shot to win. But the movement caught on in every corner of the country and big wage increases are now spreading from coast to coast. By joining together, speaking out and going on strike, we’re changing the politics of the country. And we’re going to keep on fighting until every underpaid worker in this country wins $15 and a union.”
In response to the overwhelming approval of the gathered delegates to support the working class, DNC chair Debbie Wasserman Schultz was quick to point out that the non-binding party resolution should still carry weight with the rank and file members of the party without acknowledging democratic party candidate Bernie Sanders, and his rapidly spreading populist message, as the impetus to adopt the new party plank.
“Our resolutions are really an invaluable tool for our institution, so we honor those who have dedicated their lives to the betterment of our party and our nation, to addresses injustices in society, and to recommit ourselves to the values that our party holds dear. Each of those resolutions holds great importance and we can all use them as inspiration as we move forward.”
The adoption of the $15/hr minimum wage plank was bundled together with a slew of other proposals including mandatory paid sick leave, as well as tax incentives and government spending increases for quality child care for working parents, which should further delineate progressive party members from the rank-and-file who do most of their work inside the beltway.
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As efforts to raise the federal minimum wage from $7.25 an hour have stalled repeatedly, several states and cities – from Los Angeles to New York state to Washington, D.C. – are acting on their own to raise minimum pay rates. Although some proposals target fast-food workers specifically, organized labor and anti-poverty groups are pushing for $15 an hour as the new standard for all workers paid hourly.
While the idea of raising the minimum wage is broadly popular, a Pew Research Center survey from January 2014 found clear partisan differences in support. Overall, 73% of people favored an increase in the federal minimum to $10.10 an hour, mirroring a Democratic-backed proposal that failed to move ahead in Congress last year. But while large majorities of Democrats (90%) and independents (71%) said they favored such an increase, Republicans were more evenly split (53% in favor and 43% opposed)
