Increasing the Minimum Wage

The Fair Labor Standards Act was passed in 1938 in response to President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s call for “a floor under wages, a ceiling over hours, and a break for children.”

Until the Reagan Administration, Congress accepted and carried out its responsibility to keep the minimum wage reasonably current through increases that were roughly in line with inflation and the rise in average wages.

Quite early in his Administration, President Reagan made it clear that he would prefer not to have any minimum wage at all. “That would be the right thing to do,” he suggested.

Repeal was not politically feasible, even in the heady early years of the Reagan presidency when Congress was doing the Administration’s bidding. But unless this Congress acts quickly and effectively, the President’s desire to eliminate the minimum wage will be largely achieved through attrition.

Congress last adjusted the wage floor in 1977. Through scheduled step-ups, it reached the $3.35-an-hour level on Jan. 1, 1981. But it has been stuck there ever since.

Many displaced workers who are the victims of inept economic policies have been forced to take jobs that pay less than $7,000 a year. Millions of Americans are forced to work at a minimum wage, which is becoming more and more minimal each year. And a disproportionate share of those at the minimum wage are minorities and women.

An increase in the minimum wage is long overdue. When its eroded value is restored, the minimum should be adjusted annually to retain its traditional relationship to average hourly earnings.

THOMAS J. VANDEVELD

President

Local 135, AFL-CIO United Food & Commercial Workers

San Diego