By Cliff Waldeck
I'm the owner of two small office supply stores, and I support Proposition 210. The initiative would provide two million hard working Californians a living minimum wage.
Most employers provide a decent wage for an honest day's work because it pays off in increased productivity, reduced absenteeism, and lower turnover, supervision and training costs. For most employers, Proposition 210 is a non-issue. But our free enterprise system does have its cutthroat elements. We need a minimum wage that sets a floor so that no working person lives in abject poverty. The current minimum wage of $4.75 fails that test.
Proposition 210 will lift the minimum wage to $5.75 an hour by 1998. Statewide, wages will go up by two billion dollars. It's a drop in the bucket in a state with a 900 billion dollar economy. But it will make it easier for the working poor to put food on their families' tables.
Proposition 210 is good for California business. Low paid workers spend all their earnings on basic necessities. The working poor will spend their raise in the very grocery stores, fast food restaurants and retail chains that employ most of them.
In the 1970's, the minimum wage provided roughly the income a full time worker needed to support a family of three at the federal poverty line. Today, that would require a wage of $12,980 a year, or $6.25 an hour -- 50 cents more than Proposition 210's standard.
Starting in 1980, the purchasing power of the minimum wage plummeted. In 1988, California took a big step forward when we raised our minimum wage 27% above the federal floor. A year later, President Bush signed legislation lifting the federal wage up to California's level.
The leadership California showed in 1988 turned into a retreat in the 1990's. Our minimum wage stayed frozen for eight years. Inflation eroded the minimum wage by 26%. Meanwhile, our West Coast neighbors raised the minimum wage. In 1992, Oregon boosted their minimum wage 12% above California's rate. In 1994, Washington lifted their minimum wage 15% above our state.
Each time, opponents cried "the sky is falling". In 1988, low wage employers stated that California would suffer massive job losses if we lifted our minimum wage 90 cents ahead of the nation. But in the year following our increase, California created 400,000 new jobs. In Oregon and Washington, nay sayers forecast mass job flights out of each state. Again, both states have experienced rapid job gains, and booming small business growth.
While California's minimum wage now lags behind, child poverty has soared. Our child poverty rate in fifth highest in the nation. Two out of three poor children have parents who work but simply don't earn enough to escape poverty. Oregon and Washington raised their minimum wage and lowered their child poverty rates.
The federal minimum wage just took a small step forward, to $4.75 an hour, with an increase to $5.15 scheduled for September, 1997. The federal minimum still leaves a full time worker with two dependents $2500 a year below the poverty line. A wage that guarantees poverty even in states like Mississippi is clearly inadequate in California. Everything from housing to transportation costs much more here. Proposition 210 will bring low wage families closer to the poverty line.
The battle lines are drawn over a 60 cent raise to the working poor. If you want to reward hard work, please join with the League of Women Voters, the California Congress of Seniors, Protestant, Catholic and Jewish religious leaders, and many small business owners and vote YES on Proposition 210.
Cliff Waldeck is the owner of Waldeck's Office Supplies and is the President and Founder of the California Small Business Owners Alliance
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