Re: “Do American workers deserve an increase in the minimum wage?” Dec. 2 point-counterpoint columns.
Aspen Gorry’s defense of the status quo of the federal minimum wage is disingenuous at best. Youth are finding it more difficult to get entry-level jobs because displaced and downsized experienced workers are taking those jobs to support their families. Also, most minimum-wage jobs are offered by service industry employers that are large, multinational corporations (fast food, retail, hospitality), not small businesses. These corporations have solid profit margins with which they fund extraordinarily high CEO pay, lobbyists, and think tanks such as the American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research (which Aspen Gorry represents). Certainly, these employers can spare an extra 85 cents an hour next year to provide their employees a livable wage.
Henry Ford gave his workers a wage that allowed them to afford the products he was making and expand his markets, and reduced his turnover and training costs.
Wendy Hanophy, Golden
This letter was published in the Dec. 5 edition.
One of my first votes in the Vermont House was on a bill to raise the minimum wage.
Republicans argued that this would cause vast unemployment. I knew they were right, because my economics professor (a Libertarian) had shown, with a supply and demand graph, how a raise in the minimum wage would cause employment to plunge. No question. So, I voted “no.”
My Democratic colleagues were aghast! How could I? Well, the bill passed without my vote, and guess what happened. Nothing. Absolutely nothing.
What did I learn? I learned that human beings (including employers) have more than one reason for a decision — hence, how they will react to legislation cannot be plotted on a graph.
Ann Harroun, Loveland
This letter was published in the Dec. 5 edition.
The enduring argument against raising the minimum wage is that doing so would limit first-job experiences for teens. But wouldn’t limiting their menial job opportunities encourage them to stay in school, perhaps long enough to get a college degree which would be the equivalent of early job experience?
The argument for increasing the minimum wage has always been that people (read adults) can’t survive on its totals without using public assistance. So wouldn’t raising the wage increase revenue through taxing higher incomes and decrease spending from reduced assistance? And, if heads of households can make more money, might their children be able to stay in school longer? And isn’t there plenty of research that says education pays?
Carmany Thorp, Highlands Ranch
This letter was published online only.
The recent point-counter-point debate regarding the minimum wage was interesting because both sides were right. Rep. Lynn Woolsey is correct to state that low-wage workers deserve more money, that the system is unfair, and this is a basic question of human dignity. Aspen Gorry is correct to state that the youth and unemployed would be harmed by an increase in the minimum wage, and the economy can’t handle it right now.
What is missing from this debate is a third way forward. A humble idea from a sadly under-recognized book, “Small Is Beautiful” by E.F. Schumacher, provides another way: America needs a “maximum wage differential.” The difference between the total compensation of the best-paid executives and the lowliest janitor or wage earner, should never exceed (something like) 100 times difference. If a company or industry is doing well, then it must reward all workers for its success, but still allow for higher-educated and risk-bearing jobs to be rewarded more as they are more deserving. If a company is doing poorly, then all share the pain, and executives cannot give themselves raises while destroying the company, as we recently saw with Hostess Brands, Inc. The size of the differential should be such that a hierarchy is preserved, but not so much that it can be grossly unfair.
This system, adopted nationwide, would destroy the class divide, eliminate the need for unions, immediately “lift the boats” of the poorest among us, and preserve the American notion that those who work harder or take more risk should be rewarded more for their service, but all who contribute should share in a company’s success or failure.
Patrick Cappa, Fort Collins
This letter was published online only.
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