By Joshua Leifer –
The battle over increasing the minimum wage will likely be a major point in campaigns not just on the state level but also across the nation.
Two weeks ago, New Jersey became the 20th state to raise its minimum wage above the federal minimum. As politicians, pundits, and citizens look ahead to upcoming elections in 2014 and 2016, the battle over increasing the minimum wage will likely be a major point in campaigns not just on the state level but across the nation.
Despite re-electing conservative Chris Christie to his second term as governor this fall, New Jersey voters overturned his decision with regard to the minimum wage. Last January, Christie vetoed a bill to raise the minimum wage from $7.25 to $8.25 an hour. Democrats in control of the legislature decided to bring the issue to the public as a ballot question in November, and the increase was “overwhelmingly” approved. The amendment to the state constitution also ties future wage increases to inflation.
The New Jersey business community strongly opposed this minimum wage measure, and spent around $1 million to convince voters that it would cause job losses and undermine the post-recession economic recovery. The decision by New Jersey voters to raise the minimum wage not only suggests that many are still feeling the lingering effects of the recession, but also that there is a growing consensus among working and middle class voters that the federal minimum wage does not adequately provide a living income.
While a number of studies have shown that the federal minimum wage does not enable an individual to live above the poverty line in any state, business owners and large corporations fight to keep to wages low – even if it means keeping their employees in poverty. The efforts by the business community in New Jersey to oppose the wage increase are indicative of the fight that could play out on a national level between the supporters of big business and the allies of the working class.
Already, there have been sparks of conflict between low-wage workers and their employers across the country. Last summer, thousands of fast food workers went on strike in 50 U.S. cities, protesting low wages. Earlier this week, more than fifty Wal-Mart workers and labor activists were arrested in downtown Los Angeles for demonstrating against low wages in light of Wal-Mart’s multibillion dollar profits. Organizers said that this was the “largest single act of civil disobedience in Wal-Mart’s 50-year history.”
Low-wage workers are not the only ones mobilizing to raise the minimum wage. President Obama and Democrats in the Senate have proposed making it at least $10 an hour – an amount which, adjusted for inflation, is roughly the same as the minimum wage in the 1960s. This choice suggests that Democrats seek to reverse the past several decades of decreasing economic insecurity and the steady disappearance of middle-class jobs. But judging by the response of corporations and their friends in government, this will not be an easy task.
With the current Congress crippled by Republican obstructionism, it is unlikely that the $10 proposal will pass before new elections are held. But given the growing number of states that have increased their minimum wage above the federal one, the push for a living wage will be a major factor in upcoming elections.