Minimum wage lower today than during the March on Washington

<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgK0ug9BnZqnIlQISicPY7fDwH67YljQFsmp4dcuVbGlygAHXOXCI9WfcqHX6r94-T1sHgLb8S7U3oRXYcrB_tOYOd3mzVL562DMNPBRux0niDO3pCqlHW72A2U8-5lbUFEa6T9_eQsycXj/s1600/March+on+Washington+equality+for+all.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgK0ug9BnZqnIlQISicPY7fDwH67YljQFsmp4dcuVbGlygAHXOXCI9WfcqHX6r94-T1sHgLb8S7U3oRXYcrB_tOYOd3mzVL562DMNPBRux0niDO3pCqlHW72A2U8-5lbUFEa6T9_eQsycXj/s320/March+on+Washington+equality+for+all.jpg" width="227" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">50 years ago: Teamsters head to D.C.</td></tr></tbody></table>Next week marks the 50th anniversary of the March on Washington, a significant moment in civil rights and labor history. In the days leading up to the celebration, we are going to reexamine the demands of protesters, <a href="http://www.teamster.org/history/teamster-history/civil-rights">including many Teamsters</a>, and measure them against the progress made in the past 50 years.<br /><br />The march was as much about creating more good jobs as it was about racial discrimination. Organizers, after all, called it, "The <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/March_on_Washington_for_Jobs_and_Freedom">March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom</a>." Since 1963, the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poverty_in_the_United_States">percentage of people in poverty has fallen</a>, from about 20 percent in 1963 to about 15 percent today.<br /><br />One of the most overlooked demands of the march was “a national minimum wage act that will give all Americans a decent standard of living.” Protesters wanted $2.00 an hour.<br /><br />Today, that $2.00 hourly wage would equal $15.26 per hour, similar to what the “<a href="http://lowpayisnotok.org/">Strike for 15</a>” coalition of fast food and other low-paid workers across the country are advocating.<br /><br />Though low-wage workers are fighting for the same economic opportunities they were 50 years ago, their current economic reality is much worse.<br /><br />Today the federal minimum wage is $7.25 per hour. Some political leaders have been talking about increasing the wage, but <a href="http://www.cnn.com/2013/07/29/politics/minimum-wage-congress-obama/">no significant effort has been put into reform</a>.<br /><br />In August of 1963, <a href="http://www.dol.gov/whd/minwage/chart.pdf">theminimum wage was $1.15</a>. Today, a minimum wage worker who attended the March on Washington would be making an hourly rate of $8.78, according to the <a href="http://www.bls.gov/data/inflation_calculator.htm">ConsumerPrice Index converter</a>. The difference is that back then that rate was considered so low that Congress increased the rate less than a month later.<br /><br />If the minimum wage were tied to inflation, full-time minimum wage workers would be making over $3,000 extra annually.<br /><br />The impact is readily felt. Assuming a minimum wage employee works full time, with no time off for vacation, holidays, or illness, they would still need $7,000 to avoid falling below the official poverty line if they take care of anyone else<br /><br />For a family of four with two kids, the Census Bureau says the absolute minimum workers need to support themselves is $22,811. At minimum wage, one worker would need to work more than 60 hours a week to support a family with the bare essentials.<br /><br />Back in 1963, the same worker would have worked 10 fewer hours to meet the same requirements.<br /><br />Obviously, many workers are forced to look for additional help.<br /><br />The food stamp program, known as SNAP, was established permanently in 1963 to feed hungry low-income American families.<br /><br />In the first two years of the program, fewer than a half million people were enrolled. Today 47 million people, or <a href="http://www.wltx.com/news/article/245507/2/Congress-Eyes-Cuts-to-Food-Stamps">15 percent of Americans</a>, are enrolled. Another 15 million people are financially eligible for SNAP, but haven't enrolled in the program.<br /><br />With wages stagnating and low income jobs on the rise, maybe it’s time to start marching again.<br /><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><br /></span></div>

Minimum wage lower today than during the March on Washington

50 years ago: Teamsters head to D.C. Next week marks the 50th anniversary of the March on Washington, a significant moment in civil rights a...

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