Back in 1974 I applied for part-time jobs, gaining two offers. The St. Charles K Mart paid minimum wage, $2.00 per hour. A couple of minutes west the Venture store in St. Peters paid $2.10.
I joined Venture.
And, that’s what they pay veteran employees too.
Adjust for inflation and the K Mart offer becomes $10.16 an hour today while Venture hits $10.66 an hour [ Calculate it here ], about what Walmart – under pressure – pays new hires.
James Collins has been working at Walmart for six years. His pay: $11 an hour, the same as what a new hire would make on their first day of work. [Washington Post, 8/2/18 ]
Sunday’s New York Times carried a front page story, GIANT COMPANIES SEEN AS SHAPING PAY AND GROWTH:
Two of the most important economic facts of the last few decades are that more industries are being dominated by a handful of extraordinarily successful companies and that wages, inflation and growth have remained stubbornly low. Many of the world’s most powerful economic policymakers are now talking seriously the possibility that the first of those facts is a cause of the second – and that the growing concentration of corporate power has confounded the efforts of central banks to keep economies healthy.[ NY Times 8/26/18 ]
Put simply, Washington has abandoned the job of making work pay. The federal minimum wage no longer raises all boats, no, it is the calculated decisions by major corporations deciding what Americans ought to get paid. So, some big employers have jumped to $11.00 an hour like Walmart or heading to $15.00 like Disney, [ https://www.fool.com/slideshow/these-companies-gave-bonuses-or-raises-after-tax-reform/ ], deciding that around $23,000 to $30,000 a year for full-time work is their answer for “good” jobs.
Of course, not every workers gets full-time hours and most don’t work at those few trend-setting employers. Too many workers – especially in Missouri – still earn the state’s minimum of $7.85 an hour. Worse, some folks over in Kansas still earn just the federal minimum wage of $7.25.
This November Missouri voters get to help themselves and their neighbors. Proposition B will raise the state’s minimum wage to $12.00 an hour by 2023.
True, even $12.00 an hour 40 hours a week won’t lift a family out of poverty. Based on current trends, I expect the poverty level for a family of four (now $25,100 per year, about $12.07 an hour) to be at least $26,200 by then, meaning full-time work at $12.60 an hour gets that family to the poverty line. (To rise above food stamp and free school lunch eligibility will take $16.40 an hour.)
Still, a raise of $4.00 per hour means more Missourians will need less help from food stamps and pantries. And, perhaps more important, a $12.00 minimum wage will push many employers to pay more. (Walmart might even pay $15.00 an hour!)
Things only improve if we demand – and vote for – change. Spread the word: Support Proposition B, give our neighbors a well-deserved raise.
To learn more, visit https://www.raiseupmo.org/.
Glenn
Submitted by Glenn Koenen, WCD Member