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| The secret to raising the minimum wage may be to stop trusting Democrats | The secret to raising the minimum wage may be to stop trusting Democrats |
| (about 7 hours later) | |
| In too many places, elected Democrats have failed – with or without Republican obstruction – to stand up for working people, especially when it comes to raising the minimum wage. | In too many places, elected Democrats have failed – with or without Republican obstruction – to stand up for working people, especially when it comes to raising the minimum wage. |
| But if you think it’s weird that voters turned out last week to support liberal ballot initiatives like minimum-wage increases and paid sick-time laws – even in red states like Arkansas and Alaska – while simultaneously casting their ballots for all those Republican legislators and governors, think again: the devil is really in the details – and the GOP just pulled a fast one on worker’s rights. | But if you think it’s weird that voters turned out last week to support liberal ballot initiatives like minimum-wage increases and paid sick-time laws – even in red states like Arkansas and Alaska – while simultaneously casting their ballots for all those Republican legislators and governors, think again: the devil is really in the details – and the GOP just pulled a fast one on worker’s rights. |
| Democrat Mark Pryor, who lost his race to stay Arkansas senator, opposed a federal minimum-wage increase, calling $10.10 an hour “too much too fast”. (And, in case you’re wondering, the National Restaurant Association and the National Retail Federation, which lobby against wage increases, donated to his campaign.) Pryor did support increasing his state’s minimum wage, but perhaps voters could be forgiven for not exactly believing that the candidates’ stances on minimum-wage bumps were a major difference between Pryor and Republican Tom Cotton – especially after Cotton voiced support for the minimum-wage ballot initiative and tried to pin the so-called “minimum wage economy” against Pryor and President Obama. | Democrat Mark Pryor, who lost his race to stay Arkansas senator, opposed a federal minimum-wage increase, calling $10.10 an hour “too much too fast”. (And, in case you’re wondering, the National Restaurant Association and the National Retail Federation, which lobby against wage increases, donated to his campaign.) Pryor did support increasing his state’s minimum wage, but perhaps voters could be forgiven for not exactly believing that the candidates’ stances on minimum-wage bumps were a major difference between Pryor and Republican Tom Cotton – especially after Cotton voiced support for the minimum-wage ballot initiative and tried to pin the so-called “minimum wage economy” against Pryor and President Obama. |
| In Alaska, liberal columnist Shannyn Moore opined that, “When Alaskans are asked to vote their values, and they’re given a clean, non-partisan choice, they seem to prefer the more progressive path: higher minimum wage, environmental protection, fair treatment of public employees, a rational position on drugs.” Yet those same Alaskans may have voted out their Democratic senator – Mark Begich remains in a race too close to call. But once again, if an Alaskan was looking for a clear signal to voters from Democratic politicians that this is the party of higher minimum wages, she might well have been confused by that time Alaska Republicans tried to pass legislation to increase the state’s minimum wage, only to have Democrats vote it down in order to keep the issue on the ballot last week. | In Alaska, liberal columnist Shannyn Moore opined that, “When Alaskans are asked to vote their values, and they’re given a clean, non-partisan choice, they seem to prefer the more progressive path: higher minimum wage, environmental protection, fair treatment of public employees, a rational position on drugs.” Yet those same Alaskans may have voted out their Democratic senator – Mark Begich remains in a race too close to call. But once again, if an Alaskan was looking for a clear signal to voters from Democratic politicians that this is the party of higher minimum wages, she might well have been confused by that time Alaska Republicans tried to pass legislation to increase the state’s minimum wage, only to have Democrats vote it down in order to keep the issue on the ballot last week. |
| In Massachusetts, where 60% of voters supported a paid sick leave measure, Republican Charlie Baker, now the governor-elect, even introduced his own proposal for paid sick days (limiting them to employees at bigger firms, but still) after Democrat Martha Coakley tried to use the issue to drum up support. | In Massachusetts, where 60% of voters supported a paid sick leave measure, Republican Charlie Baker, now the governor-elect, even introduced his own proposal for paid sick days (limiting them to employees at bigger firms, but still) after Democrat Martha Coakley tried to use the issue to drum up support. |
| While it’s true that, in each of these cases, Republicans were cynically attempting to circumvent a broader increase in wages or sick time with a narrower measure of their own, if voters only listened to campaign ads, they’d have thought that the GOP was the party of higher wages and better jobs. | While it’s true that, in each of these cases, Republicans were cynically attempting to circumvent a broader increase in wages or sick time with a narrower measure of their own, if voters only listened to campaign ads, they’d have thought that the GOP was the party of higher wages and better jobs. |
| The “minimum wage economy” is all too real for far too many people, many of whom long ago lost hope that the politicians for whom they’re supposed to take time off work (and, in many cases, forfeit pay) to elect will do anything for them – and turnout was the lowest since World War II. But a minimum-wage ballot initiative seems like a relatively easy sell for Americans, and this year’s election results indicate that many people don’t even think of it as much of a partisan issue anymore. (Paid sick time increasingly looks the same way.) | The “minimum wage economy” is all too real for far too many people, many of whom long ago lost hope that the politicians for whom they’re supposed to take time off work (and, in many cases, forfeit pay) to elect will do anything for them – and turnout was the lowest since World War II. But a minimum-wage ballot initiative seems like a relatively easy sell for Americans, and this year’s election results indicate that many people don’t even think of it as much of a partisan issue anymore. (Paid sick time increasingly looks the same way.) |
| Ballot initiatives have often been a way to put issues – rather than parties or politicians – in front of voters. (In fact, the elected official most closely associated with the minimum wage movement is probably socialist Seattle city councilmember Kshama Sawant – of whom most Americans haven’t even heard .) The push for an increase in the minimum wage has been led instead by working people around the country, who have struck, protested and gotten arrested to bring attention to their working conditions, not partisan-identified politicians. | Ballot initiatives have often been a way to put issues – rather than parties or politicians – in front of voters. (In fact, the elected official most closely associated with the minimum wage movement is probably socialist Seattle city councilmember Kshama Sawant – of whom most Americans haven’t even heard .) The push for an increase in the minimum wage has been led instead by working people around the country, who have struck, protested and gotten arrested to bring attention to their working conditions, not partisan-identified politicians. |
| The workers who brought the minimum wage to prominence as an issue were aiming to win raises and better treatment in the workplace, but the difficulty of getting employers to concede led them to push elected officials – supposedly more sympathetic – to raise their wages through changes to minimum wage laws. But with so many more Republicans now entering office, we’re bound to have a federal government and many state governments that’ll be that much more hostile to workers’ issues. So what’s next? | The workers who brought the minimum wage to prominence as an issue were aiming to win raises and better treatment in the workplace, but the difficulty of getting employers to concede led them to push elected officials – supposedly more sympathetic – to raise their wages through changes to minimum wage laws. But with so many more Republicans now entering office, we’re bound to have a federal government and many state governments that’ll be that much more hostile to workers’ issues. So what’s next? |
| In some cases, the answer may well be “more ballot initiatives”. But only 24 states have a process that allows for initiatives to be placed on the ballot by citizen petition. In other states, the legislature itself has to put the issue on the ballot, which leaves workers in states like Texas – where a large number of the jobs are minimum-wage – out in the cold. As Jack Temple of the National Employment Law Project told me in September: | In some cases, the answer may well be “more ballot initiatives”. But only 24 states have a process that allows for initiatives to be placed on the ballot by citizen petition. In other states, the legislature itself has to put the issue on the ballot, which leaves workers in states like Texas – where a large number of the jobs are minimum-wage – out in the cold. As Jack Temple of the National Employment Law Project told me in September: |
| If there’s one thing that we’re learning about the ballot initiatives this November, the success of the issue and the momentum of the issue over the course of this year, it’s that there’s still, like, half the country that’s waiting for Congress to take action. | If there’s one thing that we’re learning about the ballot initiatives this November, the success of the issue and the momentum of the issue over the course of this year, it’s that there’s still, like, half the country that’s waiting for Congress to take action. |
| Nonbinding ballot questions on the minimum wage in Illinois (where Republican Bruce Rauner won the governor’s race) and Wisconsin (where America’s most famous union-buster, Scott Walker, was re-elected) also got large majorities of the vote a week ago, but in both states, workers will likely have to wait for the legislature to act. While it’s possible that enough pressure could get Republicans to raise wages, it’s highly unlikely. | Nonbinding ballot questions on the minimum wage in Illinois (where Republican Bruce Rauner won the governor’s race) and Wisconsin (where America’s most famous union-buster, Scott Walker, was re-elected) also got large majorities of the vote a week ago, but in both states, workers will likely have to wait for the legislature to act. While it’s possible that enough pressure could get Republicans to raise wages, it’s highly unlikely. |
| Where does that leave the millions of workers who still make less than $10.10 an hour? | Where does that leave the millions of workers who still make less than $10.10 an hour? |
| The beauty of a movement without direct ties to electoral politics is that it keeps pushing, regardless of who wins or loses at the polls – and this election cycle, voters from Little Rock to San Francisco signalled that they want people to earn higher wages and better jobs. While in recent decades Democrats have taken election defeats as incentives to run right, it should be harder for them to do so after so many resounding victories for bread-and-butter issues at the polls. | The beauty of a movement without direct ties to electoral politics is that it keeps pushing, regardless of who wins or loses at the polls – and this election cycle, voters from Little Rock to San Francisco signalled that they want people to earn higher wages and better jobs. While in recent decades Democrats have taken election defeats as incentives to run right, it should be harder for them to do so after so many resounding victories for bread-and-butter issues at the polls. |
| Workers, meanwhile, will keep pressing in the workplace, perhaps even more urgently now that, for many of them, legislative action may be on the back burner. Smart politicians will be looking for ways to make those issues their own – and to prove where they stand in the months between now and 2016. | Workers, meanwhile, will keep pressing in the workplace, perhaps even more urgently now that, for many of them, legislative action may be on the back burner. Smart politicians will be looking for ways to make those issues their own – and to prove where they stand in the months between now and 2016. |
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