Can I Still Afford a Beer at the local brew pub? Maybe not. The Mayor took another step backward this week. This time the Mayor supports ‘Right to Work’ legislation. ‘Right to Work’ sounds good but means the opposite of what it sounds like. Right to Work legislation, often linked to abolishing the minimum wage, lowers wages significantly and leads to increased workforce poverty as workers have less and less money to spend and pay bills. Simply put, ‘Right to Work’ is an economy killer.
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Compare ‘Right to Work’ with raising the minimum wage. Here in Albuquerque, New Mexico we voted to raise the minimum wage in 2013 and gave an instant boost to the economy. Workers spent millions of dollars from their new raises in local area businesses. Many workers I talked to said, “Every little bit counts” – counts toward the things that improve the quality of life of a largely underpaid workforce. So I urge the Mayor not to support poorly named ‘Right to Work’ laws. If we can’t even afford the price of a beer at our fledgling Albuquerque brew pubs we’re going in the wrong direction.
Questions:
Did you vote? Do you understand how 'not voting' has real consequences that affect your own quality of life and that of your family?
Do you support raising the minimum wage in New Mexico? Nationally?
Of course the midterm election results in New Mexico emboldened the GOP state law makers who took over the House side of the state’s legislature. From the GOP perspective now’s the time to push for ‘Right to Work. Plus, they can’t think of a better way to forestall another rise in the minimum wage like that proposed by President Obama, even though a majority of New Mexico voters support a raise in the minimum wage.