January 20, 2016
Page 7
O PINION
Statue of Trumperty
a n o ther W ords Cartoon
by K halil b endib
New Prices
Effective
May 1, 2014
Martin
Cleaning
Service
Carpet & Upholstery
Cleaning
Residential &
Commercial Services
Minimum Service CHG.
$45.00
A small distance/travel
charge may be applied
CARPET CLEANING
2 Cleaning Areas or
more $30.00 Each Area
Pre-Spray Trafic Areas
(Includes: 1 small Hallway)
1 Cleaning Area (only)
$40.00
Includes Pre-Spray Trafic Area
(Hallway Extra)
Time to Make All Wages Living Wages
Winning the
ight for $15
J ill r eese
Millions of
low-paid Amer-
icans rang in
2016 with a
raise, as a hand-
ful of state min-
imum wage increases went into
effect on the irst day of January.
Many of those raises are a
barely noticeable 15 or 20 cents
an hour — little comfort to peo-
ple struggling to make ends
meet. But workers in the cities
and states that voted for more
robust wages last year saw much
more signiicant gains.
Minimum wage workers in
Alaska, California, Massachu-
setts, and Nebraska, for exam-
ple, are inding a dollar-an-hour
increase in their paychecks.
Workers in Hawaii are enjoying
an extra $1.25 an hour. In Seat-
tle, some workers at bigger com-
panies are seeing a substantial
$2 hourly increase as the city’s
by
$15 minimum wage is phased in.
The national campaign for a
$15 minimum wage emerged as
a leading economic justice issue
last year. It’s also a critical ra-
cial justice issue: Half of all
African-American
workers
and almost 60 percent of Lati-
no workers make less than $15
an hour.
The momentum to raise
the minimum wage will only
increase in 2016 as public sup-
port grows. Yet too many states
— 21 of them, concentrated
mainly in the South — haven’t
budged from the federal min-
imum wage of $7.25 an hour,
unchanged since 2009.
Many of these holdouts have
deep pools of poverty. Most
deny poor families health care
by refusing to expand Medic-
aid, and nearly all have held the
sub-minimum wage for tipped
workers to $2.13 an hour for 25
years.
The problem with efforts to
raise the wage city by city and
state by state is that it leaves
out workers in states without
a citizen initiative process, or
in communities without strong
unions or leadership. Millions
of low-wage workers are at risk
of becoming a left-behind un-
derclass.
That means it’s time for Con-
gress to increase the national
minimum wage — and to abol-
ish the lower, sub-minimum
wage for tipped workers. If they
aren’t sure how to do it, leaders
from New York to Los Angeles
have provided plenty of exam-
ples.
Research from my organiza-
tion, the Alliance for a Just So-
ciety, shows that a living wage
for a single adult ranges from
$14.26 in Arkansas to $21.44 in
Hawaii. On average, a worker
would have to put in 93 hours a
week just to get by on the fed-
eral minimum wage of $7.25 an
hour.
The numbers underscore the
crisis facing families in our
country.
Often, low-wage workers are
told that the solution is to go get
a better-paying job, but the re-
ality is there are nowhere near
enough jobs that pay a living
wage. The occupations with the
most job openings — in retail
and restaurants — pay the least,
and they’re most likely to be
part-time.
We’ve become a low-wage
nation, with implications that
reach far beyond just low pay.
Low-wage jobs also mean part-
time hours, unpredictable sched-
ules, and no beneits or paid sick
leave — making it impossible
for workers to break even.
It’s unacceptable that any-
one who works full-time in
our country should go hungry,
homeless, or without care for
their child. This is the year to
make all wages living wages.
Without action, Congress is en-
dorsing the creation of a new
class of poverty among our
workers.
Jill Reese is the associate di-
rector of the Alliance for a Just
Society, a national organization
focusing on economic and ra-
cial justice. Distributed by Oth-
erWords.org.
Stairs (12-16 stairs - With
Other Services) : $25.00
Area/Oriental Rugs:
$25.00 Minimum
Area/Oriental Rugs (Wool) :
$40.00 Minimum
Heavily Soiled Area:
Additional $10.00 each area
(Requiring Extensive Pre-Spraying)
UPHOLSTERY
CLEANING
Sofa: $69.00
Loveseat: $49.00
Sectional: $109 - $139
Chair or Recliner:
$25 - $49
Throw Pillows (With
Other Services) : $5.00
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