Norman Wilcox’ Dec. 24 letter, “Higher minimum falls on consumer,” arguing against raises in the minimum wage, was short on facts and logic.
In 1968, when I was trying to work my way through school, the rate was $1.60 per hour. It is a fact that had simple inflation been properly calculated, the minimum wage would be $10.50 to $11 today. Washington’s $9.47 (highest in the nation) is still leaving the working poor and lower middle class 10 percent shy of the bare minimum.
Further, societal forces and organized labor have tried to keep wages ahead of conservative cost of living formulae, which would indicate $15 per hour is not unreasonable. We need these folks to pay more taxes, more FICA, draw fewer government services, and churn more money into the local economy.
Secretary of Labor, Carroll Wright (1898) said: “Figures don’t lie, but liars figure” so I don’t know if the price of a Whopper will raise $0.20 or $2. Nonetheless, I will gladly pay it to restore some measure of fairness to low-income workers.