fJortlauò (Observer
O ctober 30, 2013
Page 15
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Workers
The justification
for a dignified
minimum wage
by B enjamin
T odd J ealous
This summer, m ini
mum wage workers in
C alifornia abandoned
their posts at fast food
restaurants and retail
stores for spots on the
picket line. They joined
workers in cities across
the country to demand
an increase in the mini
mum wage.
Their efforts paid off last month
when California Gov. Jerry Brown
signed a bill to raise the state mini
mum wage over the next three years
to $10 an hour.
For the first time in years, wide
spread minimum wage reform is a
real possibility, and we need to keep
the pressure on. The current federal
minimum wage is inadequate, out
dated, and out of touch with the
modem cost of living. In this coun
try, a full-time job should be enough
to keep a family above the poverty
line and off of welfare.
Imagine a mother working a
steady, full time, year round job at
the federal minimum wage - $7.25 an
hour. Her annual salary will amount
to just $ 15,080. That puts her below
the poverty line for a family of two,
and well below the poverty line for
a family of four. To make matters
worse, her paltry salary
depreciates in value
each year, since the fed-
eral minimum wage is not
tied to inflation.
At this rate, she could
put in 45,50 or even 60
hour weeks in an effort
to keep her family off
not the unemployed. These are not
the underemployed. These are the
over employed and underpaid,
It is a travesty that millions of
Americans work full time but still
struggle to support their families,
They are making a decision to be
hard-working employees and re
sponsible parents, but their employ-
ers are also making a decision - to
pay them poverty wages,
Raising the minimum wage is
imperative, and the potential cost to
businesses and consumers is less
than you might think. According to
a recent study by DEMOS, raising
\ Raising the minimum wage is
imperative, and the potential cost to
businesses and consumers is less than
you might think.
I
welfare, but she would still qualify
for - and most likely need - public
assistance.
This is hardly a hypothetical situ
ation. Thirty-three U.S. states and
territories use the federal minimum
wage, and there are over three mil
lion mothers and fathers just get
ting by on full-time jobs. These are
the federal minimum wage to $ 12.25
($25,000 for a full-time, year round
worker) would cost large retailers
just one percent of total annual sales,
and it would cost consumers just 12
to 18 cents extra per shopping trip.
At the same time, this change would
lift more than 700,000 people out of
poverty.
There are several opportunities
to make this a reality.
In November, New Jersey voters
will decide whether to raise the state
minimum wage to $8.25 and tie it to
the cost of living. President Obama
recently suggested increasing the
federal minimum wage to $9. Even
below the Mason-Dixon Line, two
Maryland counties are considering
bills to raise their minimum wage to
$11.25.(Oregon’sminimum wage is
$8.95 and will rise to $9.10 in January
with an automatic cost o f living
adjustment.)
It is time for a new social contract
for people at the bottom of the eco
nomic ladder. We need to stand up
with workers in California and other
states and demand a dignified m ini
mum wage on the federal level and
in our communities. We can no
longer afford not to.
Benjamin Todd Jealous is the
president and chief executive of
ficer o f the national NAACP.
THE LAW OFFICES OF
Patrick John Sweeney, P.C.
Patrick John Sweeney
Attorney at Law
1549 SE Ladd
Portland, Oregon
Portland:
Hillsoboro:
Facsimile:
Email:
(503) 244-2080
(503) 244-2081
(503) 244-2084
Sweeney @ PDXLawyer.com
Closing the Gap in Health Care
A basic human right that all God’s children deserve
by Y vonne O liver
When the federal
g o v ern m en t shut
down for 16 days,
more than 800,000
“nonessential” fed
eral employees be
came unemployed.
No one believed it
would go that far.
After more, than 41 attempts to
repeal the Affordable Care Act
(ACA), health care reform became
the scapegoat for the government
shutdown. Was it a mere coinci
dence that opening day of enroll
ment for the health insurance mar
ketplace was the day the govern
ment shutdown occurred? Maybe.
Maybe not. You decide.
The Patient Protection Afford
able Care Act gives more than 40
million uninsured folks health in
surance. Yet, ‘trusted leaders’ have
taken a stand against the 2010 law,
declaring, “We need to delay pro
viding this benefit,” because giving
poor and middle class hard working
people another entitlement makes
them rely too much on the govern
ment.
Having an illness or a chronic
disease and not being able to
get much needed care dimin
ishes a person’ s quality of life
and can contribute to prema
ture death. The ACA has cre
ated a new space for how we
care for each other.
H ealthcare reform takes
away the control insurance
companies once held and holds
hospitals accountable for the qual
ity of care they deliver. Healthcare is
a basic human right that all G od’s
children deserve, but right-wing
extremists continue to spin exag
gerated or inaccurate analyses which
only serve to create anger, anxiety,
blaming, uncertainty and more de
spair among hard working families.
Much can be said about a people
by the way we care for the most
vulnerable citizens, our babies and
our elders. The United States ranks
38th in healthcare systems accord
ing to the World Health Organiza
tion. In May, the Huffington Post
reported that “the U.S. falls behind
68 other countries in infant mortal
ity.”
As baby boomers mature, we now
have more people over the age 50
than ever in our history. An aging
population is one of the greatest
challenges we face in the 21st Cen
tury. Health insurance coverage for
all people should not be negotiable.
The ACA provides no annual or
lifetime caps of benefits; free pre
ventive services like mammograms,
prostate exams and colonoscopies;
a 50 percent reduction on prescrip
tion drugs with elimination of the
donut hole by 2020; allowance for
children up to age 26 to stay on
parent’s insurance; elimination of
gender based pricing, elimination of
denials based on pre-existing con
ditions; and additional resources
for doctors to provide better care.
The Affordable Care Act saves
money from a reduction in waste,
fraud, abuse and Medicare costs.
It is time to let our legislators
know we need them to do their con
stitutional duty and provide for the
well-being of their public. Where
healthcare is concerned, the ACA is
a good start. We need our legisla
tors to help make it work for every
one, rather than create obstructions
that serve no one.
Yvonne Oliver is a program as
sociate fo r healthcare justice in the
United Church o f Christ.
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