July 29, 2017

27 states move against hikes in minimum wage

NPR- State legislatures and city halls are battling over who gets to set the minimum wage, and increasingly, the states are winning.

After dozens of city and county governments voted to raise their local minimum wage ordinances in the last several years, states have been responding by passing laws requiring cities to abide by statewide minimums. So far, 27 states have passed such laws

The latest example of this is in Missouri, where a state law will take effect next month, rolling back St. Louis' $10-an-hour minimum wage ordinance passed earlier this year. That means thousands of minimum-wage earners in the city could go back to earning the state rate of $7.70 an hour.

Similar rollbacks occurred this spring in four counties in Iowa that had earlier voted to increase their wages.

This is part of bigger policy battles over a variety of local laws — from paid leave to ride-hailing — that increasingly pit cities against state legislatures, where more conservative rural interests tend to wield a lot of power.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

The reformist seesaw

'After dozens of city and county governments voted to raise their local minimum wage ordinances in the last several years, states have been responding by passing laws requiring cities to abide by statewide minimums. So far, 27 states have passed such laws.The latest example of this is in Missouri, where a state law will take effect next month, rolling back St. Louis' $10-an-hour minimum wage ordinance passed earlier this year. That means thousands of minimum-wage earners in the city could go back to earning the state rate of $7.70 an hour.'

Over 150 years ago Marx wrote: ''instead of the conservative motto, A fair day's wage for a fair day's work, we must inscribe on our banner the revolutionary watchword, Abolition of the wage system' (Value, Price, and Profit). Workers of the world wake up!