TO THE EDITOR:
I was very pleased to read the “Honor working-class women” column on Monday.
Beyond keeping the triumphs and tribulations of working class women in mind, we should also be mindful of the struggles of working-class men and women across America.
Workers today are more productive than at any other time in history, yet wages have lagged.
If minimum wage were to have kept up with productivity, it would be at nearly $22 per hour, and if it were to have kept up with inflation it would be at about $10.50 per hour, each far beyond the current federal (and N.C.) level of $7.25.
Despite President Obama’s proposal to raise the minimum wage to $9 per hour, it is unlikely to get a vote in a government increasingly consumed with budget crisis after budget crisis.
The withering of workers’ rights and benefits should not be viewed in a vacuum; the progress achieved by women and minorities was aided by the labor movement, as the Civil Rights movement and women’s movement aided labor’s success.
Workers deserve a vote on raising the minimum wage.
Joshua Jansa
Graduate student
Political science
