The federal minimum wage is now $6.55 per hour. This will rise to $7.25 an hour in July 2009. Many states have their own minimum wage laws. In California, Massachusetts, and Washington, the minimum wage is $8 or more.
A worker employed at minimum wage who has a 40-hour workweek would earn $262 a week. On a yearly basis this amounts to $13,624. The official poverty rate in the United States for a four-person family is $20,614. Therein lies a powerful voting weapon for Barack Obama and Democratic candidates everywhere.
Minimum wage workers are concentrated in service industries. Fast-food workers, waitresses, car washers, hotel chamber maids, janitors, and retail clerks are some of the jobs where you will find large numbers of minimum wage workers. About half of all minimum wage workers are below the age of 25. More than 62 percent of the American workers who earn the minimum wage are women.
Throughout his legislative career John McCain has been a relentless opponent of raising the minimum wage. Without fail McCain has followed the wishes of industry while ignoring the economic interests of the nation’s lowest-income workers.
Here is the McCain record:
• In 2007 McCain voted to eliminate all federal minimum wage provisions and to permit states to set their own minimum wages.
• In 2007 John McCain voted against a proposal to raise the minimum wage to $7.25 over a two-year period.
• In 2005 McCain voted against a bill that would have raised the minimum wage from $5.15 to $5.85.
• In 2000 McCain voted against an amendment that called for a 50-cent raise in the minimum wage in both 2000 and 2001.
• In 1999 McCain voted to table a bill that called for a $1 rise in the minimum wage over the following two years.
• In 1998 McCain opposed a bill calling for raising the minimum wage by 50 cents that year and 50 cents the next year.
• In 1996 McCain voted to delay a 90-cent raise in the minimum wage for six months.
• In 1993 McCain voted to create a new class of workers called "helpers" who would not be subject to minimum wage laws.
In the current campaign McCain made clear his hostility to the minimum wage when he made a campaign stop at Worth & Company in Pipersville, Pennsylvania. The company was under investigation for hiring a subcontractor who paid employees less than the minimum wage.
This callous record amassed over the years by John McCain provides an effective weapon for the Obama campaign. Minimum wage workers are spread throughout the nation. But on the minimum wage issue Florida is the major target. There are huge numbers of minimum wage workers in Florida’s vast hospitality industry including hotel employees and restaurant workers.
The Obama message would also draw votes from workers in the tourist industry in Las Vegas and other Nevada cities. There are very large numbers of workers in Nevada’s hotels, restaurants, bars, and casinos who, if properly informed of John McCain’s voting record, would flock to support Obama. Polls in Nevada show the presidential race is very close. Workers concerned about wage issues could tip the balance to Obama.
Also, the minimum wage issue is dear to the heart of American labor unions. If the minimum wage is raised, union leaders are confident that they can also push for higher wages for their members. Organized labor believes in the old bromide, "A rising tide lifts all boats." So labor leaders and their general memberships have always been strong supporters of efforts to increase the minimum wage.
McCain’s opposition to raising the minimum wage is an attack on working people and it must be so perceived by America’s 16 million union workers and nonunion workers alike. McCain is particularly vulnerable in heavily unionized battleground states such as Pennsylvania, Michigan, and Ohio, which are important in Obama’s efforts to form an Electoral College majority.
The numbers of potential voters are huge. For example, Michigan, one of the states in play, is one of the most unionized states in the country. Nearly 20 percent of the entire Michigan workforce belongs to a union. In real numbers there are more than 800,000 union members in Michigan.
For more political strategies concerning the 2008 presidential election go to ObamaElectionWatch.com