2016 Postmortem
Related: About this forumDem Calls For Higher Minimum Wage, Paid Sick Days For All
WASHINGTON -- Legislation introduced by Sen. Tom Harkin (D-Iowa) on Thursday included a litany of measures aimed at boosting income for low-wage workers, most notably raising the minimum wage significantly and pegging it to inflation.
Along with spending on school modernization and renewable energy development, the Rebuild America Act calls for raising the minimum wage from the current federal level of $7.25 to $9.80 -- a 35 percent hike -- over the course of two and a half years, then indexing it so it rises with the cost of living. For restaurant servers and other tipped employees, the minimum wage before tips would leap from the current $2.13 to $6.86, and then track at 70 percent of the normal minimum wage.
The bill would also require employers to offer their workers paid sick days, make more white-collar workers eligible for overtime pay that they're currently exempted from, and give more workers the right to join a union.
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Full article here: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/03/29/minimum-wage-tom-harkin_n_1389457.html
sakabatou
(42,157 posts)Sherman A1
(38,958 posts)however, I don't see this getting too far in the GOP controlled House.
sakabatou
(42,157 posts)Ken Burch
(50,254 posts)We need to get them on record as killing as many good ideas as possible between now and November.
That's what Truman did...and that's how he flipped the House back in '48(as well as getting another term for himself).
3waygeek
(2,034 posts)But pegging it to the CPI probably isn't the best move, as the CPI doesn't seem to reflect reality. For example, food & energy prices (two major items in any household budget) aren't even counted in the CPI.
I read here recently that if, since 1990, the minimum wage had kept pace with CEO salaries, it'd be up to $23 per hour.
mathematic
(1,439 posts)Food and energy are absolutely part of the CPI. Perhaps its time to realize that your friend's neighbor's cousin (or the internet equivalent) is not the best source of technical information about government statistics.
www.bls.gov
quakerboy
(13,920 posts)CPI seems better than a static number.
Ken Burch
(50,254 posts)How much different the Nineties would have been with the man from Iowa as president.
Egalitarian Thug
(12,448 posts)The minimum for tipped employees in the 80's was $2.01, so I learn today that it has only gone up $0.12 in 20+ years!
quakerboy
(13,920 posts)a legal sub-minimum wage? It seems ridiculous that this even exists.
Arkana
(24,347 posts)Seriously, inquiring minds want to know.
OnyxCollie
(9,958 posts)to leave Sen. Harkin to twist in the wind.
great white snark
(2,646 posts)You think Harkin expects this to pass?
ellisonz
(27,711 posts)...that Good Olde Time CLASS WARFARE!