When Will They Raise Minimum Wage Again
In 1938, Congress passed the Fair Labor Standards Act. This legislation affirmed that workers are entitled to a certain amount of compensation for their labor by instituting the first federal minimum wage in the Usa. But the conversation didn't cease there. In fact, since its introduction, the federal minimum wage has been raised 22 times. Even today, minimum wage — which isn't inherently adjusted to reflect higher costs of living — remains a hotly debated topic.
While the 1938 legislation marked an important first in U.S. history, laborers' button for a fair minimum wage actually had its modern-day origins in France a century before. In 1831, silk industry workers in Lyon went on strike, demanding a livable minimum wage. Over 60 years after, New Zealand became the offset nation to institute a federal minimum wage with its 1894 Industrial Conciliation and Mediation Act. In observance of National Poverty Awareness Month, we'll discuss the history of the federal minimum wage and its numerous changes.
The History of the Federal Minimum Wage in the United States
New Zealand's actions helped inspire minimum wage advocates in the United States. According to History, "Samuel Gompers, founding president of the American Federation of Labor, publishe[d] an article entitled 'A Minimum Living Wage,' in which he advocates non just setting a legal threshold for wages, but also requiring it to be enough for workers to live." Needless to say, this article marked a turning betoken in the U.S.
Finally, fourteen years after Gompers' commodity croaky the conversation broad open, Massachusetts enacted the first minimum wage law in the U.S. By the following yr, eight other states, from California to Minnesota, followed accommodate. However, a setback came in 1923 when the U.S. Supreme Courtroom ruled that a country regime could not set up a minimum wage; according to the Court, doing then would violate a precedent set along in the 5th Amendment.
Only a decade later, Americans found themselves navigating the Peachy Low. In an endeavour to aid workers and rebuild the economy, President Franklin D. Roosevelt rallied Congress to support the National Industrial Recovery Deed (NIRA), which "suspends antitrust restrictions and allows industries to enforce their ain fair-trade codes" (via History). Additionally, FDR encouraged employers to pledge to offer $12 to $15 weekly wages; in commutation, employers would be able to display "We Exercise Our Function" badges, reinforcing the sense of pride and patriotism the federal government was hoping to inspire in the face up of the Dandy Depression (and, afterward, World War II). In the terminate, these efforts encouraged various industries to enact minimum wage codes.
In 1935, the NIRA codes faced pushback from the Supreme Court, which, in plow, made minimum wage the hot-button issue of the upcoming presidential election. Still, things took a real plough in 1937 when Elsie Parrish, a maid at the Cascadian Hotel in Wenatchee, Washington, sued her erstwhile employer on the grounds that she was owed back pay in accordance with Washington's weekly minimum wage law. Since the Court had previously ruled that "any form of law establishing wages" was unconstitutional, the ruling on Westward Coast Hotel Co. v. Parrish came as a shock. Described by historians equally the "big switch," the Courtroom ruled in favor of Parrish — and Washington's minimum wage laws.
This landmark ruling opened the door for Congress to pass the Fair Labor Standards Human action, which formally established a federal minimum wage. At the time, that minimum wage was 25 cents per hour; by 1949, Congress raised the minimum to 75 cents, marking the first of the 22 increases.
Today, the federal minimum wage applies to workers who are employed by businesses that make at to the lowest degree $500,000 in acquirement as well every bit folks who piece of work in schools, hospitals, nursing homes, and regime agencies. Additionally, workers who are involved in "interstate commerce" are also subject to minimum wage protections (via U.South. Department of Labor).
Although things have certainly changed over the years, many feel the fight for establishing a fair federal minimum wage is far from over. Equally mentioned above, much of this feeling comes from the fact that the minimum wage doesn't automatically accommodate based on increased costs of living. Every bit of Jan 2022, the federal minimum wage is still set at $7.25 — and has been since 2009. Meanwhile, the cost of living in the U.S. continues to climb.
More recently, attempts to account for these cost of living increases accept been undertaken on a state-by-state ground. In 2016, both California and New York raised the minimum wage to $15 per 60 minutes (though it should be noted this increase to $15 is happening gradually). In total, 29 states (and Washington D.C.) take a higher minimum wage than the minimum set forth by the federal government, and, of those states, viii of them raise those wages in accordance with increases in the price of living.
Now, the COVID-nineteen pandemic has further emphasized the fact that many workers do not make enough coin to beget basic necessities, like hire, food and healthcare-related expenses. So, what'southward being done? On February 27, 2021, the U.South. House of Representatives passed the American Rescue Programme Human action of 2021, a $i.9 trillion COVID-xix relief package that aims to extend unemployment benefits; provide aid to pocket-size businesses and nonprofits; cut $1,400 relief checks to Americans; and, perhaps surprisingly, introduce a $15 federal minimum wage.
Reportedly, this increment, which would happen gradually until being fully realized in 2025, would accept "boosted pay for some 32 one thousand thousand workers" (via CNBC). Nosotros say "would have" because in the first few days of March, as the American Rescue Plan Human action moved to the Senate, the minimum wage provision was scrapped. According to Senate parliamentarian Elizabeth MacDonough, the provision did non comply with the rules of upkeep reconciliation.
While some Democrats have urged Vice President Kamala Harris to overrule MacDonough, information technology doesn't seem like the White House will do and then, despite previously supporting a minimum wage increment. For at present, information technology seems similar a federal minimum wage increase is off the tabular array, only it'southward clear that lawmakers — and everyday Americans — won't terminate fighting for it. Moreover, many states are raising their minimum wage rates irrespective of federal policies.
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Source: https://www.reference.com/business-finance/federal-minimum-wage-3fcaa76aed287408?utm_content=params%3Ao%3D740005%26ad%3DdirN%26qo%3DserpIndex
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