October 1, 1996
We believe a "Yes" vote on Proposition 210 is warranted.
That's the proposition that proposes the current minimum wage at $4.25 an hour be raised in two steps to $5.75 an hour by 1998.
While salaries for corporate executives have more than doubled, and corporate profits have skyrocketed, the minimum wage has not been increased in California since 1988.
Another reason for giving the nod to Prop. 210 is the current minimum wage punishes hard work. It is so low that minimum wage workers often make less than people on welfare; increasing the minimum wage will reward work by making it pay more than welfare.
The purpose of the Living Wage Act of 1996 is to restore the purchasing power of the minimum wage and to help minimum wage workers lift themselves out of poverty. To achieve that purpose, the Living Wage Act of 1996 will increase the minimum wage to $5.00 per hour in 1997 and to $5.75 per hour in 1998. Currently, a full-time minimum wage worker's income is 32% below the poverty line for a family of three.
Corporate downsizing has thrown hundreds of thousands of California workers out of good paying jobs. Many discarded workers have been forced to take low paying retail, fast food, and service sector jobs. Today, a living minimum wage is important more and more workers.
Prop. 210 rebuilds a wage floor that collapsed. Prop. 210 doesn't even fully restore the value the minimum wage had in the 70s. It will help two million California workers put food on their families' tables. People who work hard should no have to live in poverty.
Let's put a positive value on hard work. Please Vote Yes on Prop. 210.
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