For most of us the minimum wage is a fact of life. We scoff at the idea of earning it, and we refer to people who do earn it as working at "McJobs"
We see the minimum wage as just that; a minimum.
The reality is that people have fought and died to earn the right to a minimum wage. Today people still struggle to earn that wage.
There was a time in this country when the idea of getting paid an hourly wage was unimaginable for many workers.
Below I'll discuss a number of songs that reflect how labor was treated as recently as 70 years ago.
At least (updated from comments)five Republican Senate Candidates (all of whom are millionaires) have voiced opinions that the minimum wage is wrong, or unfair.
1.) Linda McMahon - Connecticut GOP Senate Candidate
2.) John Raese - West Virginia GOP Senate Candidate
3.) Dino Rossi - Washington State GOP Senate Candidate
4.) Joe Miller - Alaskan GOP Senate Candidate
5.) Rand Paul - Kentucky GOP Senate Candidate
While we see these folks as wingnuts, they represent a section of society that believes that money should stay in the hands of the wealthy, and that everything for the poorer classes is negotiable.
Tea Partiers have spent the past 18 months screaming about our grand children having to pay for health care and the bailouts. One wonders why they are not up in arms about suggesting that our grand children earn less per hour, work longer into their golden years, and get less in return for their investment in our nation though social security and medicare (okay that last part is another diary, but it's all tied together.)
The history of the labor movement is a long and bloody one. Millions of Americans before have suffered abuse at the hands of employers, while trying to make a society that accepts every worker, and values the work done by every person.
Today we think that is you give 40 hours of work to a company it owes you money for that time.
There was a time when people were paid by a company, but were paid so little, or in non-monetary means that for all intents and purposes made them life-time servants of the company. Death also meant little in that labor market. Wives and children were left destitute if a man died in a mine or working on railroad construction. Children worked 16 hour days.
From the mid 19th century through the mid 20th century workers fought to change the system of compensation. We had a civil war, we picketed and we had labor disputes.
There was a time when striking workers were killed by company owners, and it was okay. http://en.wikipedia.org/...
Work stoppage and attempts to block scabs from replacing abused workers were met with violence.
Union organizers were killed for trying to organize.
We take all of these things for granted today.
People actually died in order for us to have a minimum wage. Companies killed people in order to prevent the minimum wage.
"Sixteen Tons" is one of the most famous songs that deals with labor issues. There was a time when workers were paid in scrip (Think monopoly money or Chuck E. Cheese tokens) that was only good at the companies store. It was not legal currency, it was the promise of goods for the value of your labor. Needless to say, the labor was undervalued, and the promise of goods was not very strong.
http://en.wikipedia.org/...
You load sixteen tons, what do you get?
Another day older and deeper in debt.
Saint Peter, don't you call me, 'cause I can't go;
I owe my soul to the company store. - M. Travis
This song was written in 1946. Post war, and a big time for labor. It still resonates today. The worker is not paid in cash, he's paid in debt. Does anyone remember 1999? How many people did you know who worked their asses off for a 'dot com' and got paid in stock options? "When the IPO comes, you'll be rich." Well, the IPO fizzled and the market crashed. See the resemblance?
How many workers today go to bed praying that they live long enough and in good health so that they can continue to care for their families?
Now think of a place like Wal-Mart, where wages are low, and benefits are few. There are places where the only store that Wal-Mart employees can shop in is Wal-Mart. In some places they can only go to the 99 cent store.
This is the labor model that West Virginia GOP Senate nominee Joe Raese embraces. He doesn't think that 40 hours on your feet behind a cash register, or stocking shelves or cleaning the floors is worth a minimum wage. He thinks that you should be paid what your employer feels like paying.
"Drill Ye Tarriers Drill" is one my my current favorite songs. I first heard it one the Smithsonian's train song collection (Damned socialist museums)
The foreman's name was John McCann
By God, he was a blamed mean man
Last week a premature blast went off
And a mile in the air went big Jim Goff.
And when next payday came around
Jim Goff a dollar short was found
When he asked, "What for?" came this reply
"You were docked for the time you were up in the sky." - (Casey/Connolly)
It's a wry song, but the sentiment rings true. Imagine what our current GOP Senate candidates would say upon greeting the Chilean miners; "You were down there for 69 days? And you didn't even dig one ounce of copper? You owe me for room and board for two and a quarter months. You'll get vacation pay for the first two weeks, but you're not getting paid for the last part."
This is why we have OSHA. This is why we have worker's compensation (which you can hear is the most evil of all laws from an employer or two.)
http://en.wikipedia.org/...
"Pastures of Plenty" takes on the subject of migrant labor and and disenfranchised workers. Woody Guthrie sings about how laborers have worked in every part of the country and provided the muscle to put the wealthy where they are. The are abused and denigrated (Think Arizona and immigrant workers in 2010).
The last stanza cuts to the heart of the debate. Even the poor are real Americans. Even migrants and people who came here illegally are Americans. Americans love freedom. All Americans love freedom (some only love it for themselves - See Dick Cheney and the Koch brothers)
http://www.woodyguthrie.org/...
It's always we rambled, that river and I
All along your green valley, I will work till I die
My land I'll defend with my life if it be
Cause my pastures of plenty must always be free -Woody Guthrie
We have people in the military fighting to defend America, while there are people at home, suggesting that they and their children be sent back to another country. People willing to fight and die for this country should be treated like human beings. People who sweat all day to enrich their employers should be given the protection of a fair wage, and some help if the employer screws up or ships the job over seas.
The minimum wage is not a luxury.
The minimum wage is a right. That right was secured through the blood of thousands of workers. That right was secured after our consciousness was raised by activists and musicians. Unions formed to secure those rights. Singers wrote songs to point out inequities in the system.
Losing the Minimum wage would be a slap in the face to every hard working American who came before us.