To the editor:
The current minimum wage in the U.S. is $7.25 an hour. That is not a living wage, and Hoosiers know it.
As a longtime supporter of the “Fight for $15” campaign, I support a $15 federal minimum wage nationwide. This is the position supported by Sen. Bernie Sanders, Sen. Elizabeth Warren, dozens of other Democratic Senators, and over 160 Congressional Democrats, as well as unions who represent hardworking Hoosiers.
It’s also a big part of why I’m supporting Liz Watson. While serving as Labor Policy Director and Chief Labor Counsel for the Democrats on the House Committee on Education and the Workforce, Liz had the opportunity to work with economists to develop the $15 minimum wage bill, the Raise the Wage Act. She also worked with Senator Bernie Sanders’ staff on this legislation, and Bernie Sanders introduced the identical, companion bill in the Senate. This legislation set one federal minimum wage nationwide.
In contrast, one of Liz’s primary opponents proposes federal policy that promotes regional variation in the minimum wage. According to her primary opponents’ website, he supports”[a]n immediate and substantial increase in the minimum wage, and the creation of an independent commission to determine and recommend an appropriate minimum living wage by region.”
Regional variation is an idea promoted by Third Way, a self-styled “centrist think tank” whose founders declared in the Wall Street Journal that “economic populism is a dead end for Democrats.” As a workers’ rights advocate, I won’t support this position. Neither do other progressives who support workers’ rights. Here’s why.
For almost 80 years, our nation has set a minimum wage that applies regardless of where you live. This is the core protection guaranteed by the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938. This protection would be gutted by a federal policy that sets different wages for different states.
“Regional variation” is too often code that means “Hoosiers get less.” Never before has the federal government set different minimum wages for different parts of the country. Despite the schemes of corporate interests, every Congress that has ever passed a minimum wage increase has done so nationwide. This principle must be defended. If other states want to set higher minimum wages than $15, they always can. But all Americans deserve at least $15.
By 2024, when the minimum wage reaches $15 in the federal legislation that Liz developed, in every single state in the nation, including Indiana, working people will need $15 an hour just to meet basic expenses.
I’m supporting Liz because she’s fighting for a real minimum wage increase — for a $15 minimum wage for all workers.
I will not stand for Hoosiers being forced to settle for less and neither will Liz.
Chuck Jones, former United Steelworkers Local 1999 president
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