min. wage speech

WHAT YEAR ARE WE IN

A socioeconomic lesson for the present

1938 FLSA

Fair Labor Standards Act

1.Banned oppressive child labor

2.Set the minimum hourly wage at 25 cents

3.Set the maximum workweek at 44 hours

F.D.R.

“Do not let any calamity-howling executive with an

income of $1,000 a day, ...tell you...that a wage of

$11 a week is going to have a disastrous effect on all

American industry.”• President Roosevelt

WEALTH DISTRIBUTION

I couldn’t have said it better

MINIMUM WAGE

Pros

Raising minimum wage is a critical priority for

accelerating economic recovery

Raising the minimum wage will put more money in

the pockets of workers who most need to spend

those dollars

It will boost consumer spending at local

businesses

MINIMUM WAGE

Pros (cont..)

Higher wages also benefit businesses by boosting

employee productivity, retention and customer

satisfaction, and reducing the high costs of employee

turnover

Increasing the minimum wage will reduce the strain

on our social safety net caused by inadequate wages

MINIMUM WAGE

Cons

A 10 percent hike in the minimum wage causes a

2.5 percent drop in employment among young

white men without a high school diploma and a

staggering 6.5 percent drop among young black

men without that degree

Raising minimum wages benefits some workers

but harms the least employable job seekers

MINIMUM WAGE

Cons (Cont.)

The typical minimum-wage employee is young, with

few skills and little or no job experience. Half are

under age 25, and a quarter haven’t completed high

school. Fifty-nine percent are working part-time

First-time workers face the biggest risk of being

priced out of the job market by a minimum wage hike

PRODUCTION

DISTRIBUTION

CONTRIBUTIONS

PROFITABILITY

91% AGREE INSTICTIVELY

Minimum wage should be increased and then

indexed to inflation so its value does not shrink in

the future as the cost of living rises

Increased wealth in the poor and middle class

creates jobs bringing consumers into new market

segments

Tax breaks to small business and offset the initial

wage increase

FYI

…No, Nancy Pelosi, Star-Kist Tuna (Del Monte Foods) is not

consider small business. (3.82 B; #113 on Forbes ‘America’s

Largest Private Companies’

In January, 2007 when the minimum wage was increased

from $5.15 to $7.25, Pelosi had American Samoa exempted

from the increase so Del Monte would not have to pay the

higher wage. Pelosi added an earmark to the final bill

adding $33 million dollars for an 'economic development

credit in American Samoa'.