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The High Price of Low Wages
Today, over 36 million Americans live below the
federal poverty line, most of them in families with one or more full time
jobs. These are the working poor. For millions of Americans, work and poverty
go hand in hand.
Meredith lends her support to "Put Virginians First"
rally for Virginia’s own skilled workers who were denied jobs building the
Tenaska Power Plant in Fluvanna County. Tenaska’s contractor has a reputation
for hiring itinerant workers and bypassing local, skilled, and licensed
tradesmen who need jobs. Read more at http://vapipetrades.org
and George Loper's website.
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Thousands of our region’s families have
breadwinners with one or more full-time jobs, but they still can’t make ends
meet. The problem is that corporations are squeezing wages and benefits,
maintaining profitability on the backs of their workers.
The newest JibJab animation, Big Box Mart, is a
humorous but cutting exploration of an issue that affects us all. Download the
animation at www.jibjab.com
Wal-Mart, the largest private employer in the
Unites States, provides health insurance for less than half their employees.
Sixteen states report that Wal-Mart employees are the biggest users of
Medicaid and other public assistance for their health care. This is a public
subsidy of the low wages paid by Wal-Mart.
Our neighbors who work at Wal-Mart are more
dependent on Medicaid, emergency room visits or just "going without"
medical care because company insurance is too expensive and not available at
all to part-timers, who make up the bulk of the company’s workforce. Read
more at www.walmartwatch.com
The Institute for Local Self-Reliance reports
that local businesses spend 53% of their revenues within the local and state
economies. Big box stores like Wal-Mart spend just 14% in the local economy.
Our neighbors who work at Wal-Mart have fewer dollars to spend in local Mom
and Pop stores.
A recent marketing study done by the city of
Buena Vista revealed that there are eight Wal-Marts within a forty-mile radius
of Buena Vista. Think about what this means to our local economies. This is
the high price of low wages.
We Cannot Abandon the Working Poor
President Franklin Delano Roosevelt spoke of
the covenant Americans have with each other to rise above individual interest
and think of the larger good. He persuaded Americans that we have a moral
imperative to guarantee citizens equal opportunity and freedom from want, and
to provide old-age pensions, unemployment insurance and adequate health care
for all.
"The test of our progress,"
said Roosevelt, "is not whether we add more to the abundance of those who
have much; it is whether we provide enough for those who have too
little."
Meredith speaks with Westvaco retirees in Covington, VA about the need for
fair and regular adjustments to their retirement benefits to keep up with the
rising cost of living, and better help with the high costs of prescription
medicines.
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For too many of Virginia’s hard
working families, prosperity is nowhere in sight. Too many jobs are going
overseas, too many people are without health insurance and basic health care,
too many workers have lost their pensions when companies shut their doors and
left them stranded. The soaring costs of gasoline, prescription medicine and
housing is keeping too many Virginians in poverty. As proof that Virginia’s
workers are not keeping up with the rising cost of living, the number of
Virginians who received food stamps last year – 486,000 – is up 41% since
2001.
I am a firm believer that people who work
should earn a wage sufficient to be able to feed, house and clothe their
families without the need for public assistance. Many of us worked to get the
City of Charlottesville and some area businesses to adopt a policy that the
lowest paid workers must earn at least enough to live on. Public
institutions should lead by example in reforming the inequities and social
injustices that exist in society, and by paying a "living wage"
Charlottesville has taken an historic stride.
It is time for Virginia to raise the standards
for a fair wage. Washington has repeatedly rejected raising the federal
minimum wage, so Virginia must do what is necessary and right. The state’s
minimum wage of $5.15 has not changed since 1997, although inflation has
steadily eroded its value.
I support the Virginia Fair Wage Act in the
2006 General Assembly that would add a dollar to the minimum wage each year
for the next three years to bring the income of low-wage workers up to a
livable level.
According to the Economic Policy Institute, if
Virginians earning the minimum wage got an increase, not just the workers but
also businesses, the economy and the society in general would benefit. And we
will have taken a big step toward achieving a more equitable society with all
workers sharing in the prosperity of a vital economy.
Please read my articles in the Charlottesville
Tribune about poverty and low wages:
Contact Meredith
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