This is one of those things that should not need to be said—but it does, because Republicans don’t want it to be true: If you want to raise wages, you should raise wages.
Republicans are constantly arguing that we shouldn’t raise the minimum wage, because they want to see people making more than the minimum wage, and that’s what lawmakers should focus on—creating jobs above the minimum wage. By this logic, it’s better to be paid $8 an hour while the minimum wage is $7.25 than to be paid $11 an hour while the minimum wage is $11 an hour. Because in the latter case, you’re just making minimum wage, while in the former case, you’re making above minimum wage, and that must be better.
But—surprise!—it turns out that raising the minimum wage is a good way to raise wages for low-income workers.
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“This budget will mean more illness, injury and death on the job,” [the National Employment Law Project’s Judy Conti] said Thursday, the day the proposed budget was released.
For instance:
Also slated for elimination are OSHA’s Susan Harwood training grants that have provided more than 2.1 million workers, especially underserved and low-literacy workers in high-hazard industries, with health and safety training since 1978. These trainings are designed to multiply their effects by “training trainers” so that both workers and employers learn how to prevent and respond to workplace hazards. They’ve trained healthcare workers on pandemic hazards, helped construction workers avoid devastating accidents, and workers in food processing and landscaping prevent ergonomic injuries. The program also helps workers for whom English is not their first language obtain essential safety training.
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● Seriously?
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● Workers Independent News: