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First words are important. Here's how Jesus started his first sermon to his hometown congregation: "The Spirit of the
Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring good news to the poor."
That same Spirit seems to have inspired the senior pastor at Little Rock's First United Methodist Church, the Rev. Steve
Copley, to propose a ballot initiative inviting the voters of Arkansas to increase our minimum wage by $1. That is indeed
good news for the poor.
The current federal minimum wage is $5.15 an hour. Congress hasn't changed that in eight years. Minimum wage workers
have seen their purchasing power fall 17% in those eight years, to its second-lowest point since 1955. I remember getting
paid $1.60 an hour at my minimum wage job in 1968. Adjusted for inflation, that $1.60 would be worth $7.51 an hour in today's
dollars. In real dollars, today's minimum wage workers are making almost 30% less than I did in 1968. That's not good news
for the poor.
Raising the minimum wage ought to be something that Biblical Christians can unite around regardless of denomination or
theology. When Jesus pictured the last judgment in Matthew 25, his sole criteria was how we have treated "the least
of these" -- did we feed the hungry, give drink to the thirsty, and clothing to the naked? The apostle James says, "If
a brother or sister is naked and lacks daily food, and one of you says to them, 'Go in peace; keep warm and eat your fill',
and yet you do not supply their bodily needs, what is the good of that?" These New Testament words reinforce the tradition
of prophets like Amos, Isaiah and Jeremiah and the obligations of the Torah to advocate on behalf of the poor.
Biblical voices tell us that it is immoral when people are working full-time and living in poverty. A full-time mom working
at today's minimum wage makes $10,712 a year, about 1/3 below the federal poverty level for a family of three. More realistic
estimates of a "decent living" to meet basic needs of housing, food, child care, transportation and health care
place her income 2/3rds below what she needs. Right now, nearly half of Arkansas' children live in families with incomes
too low to meet their basic needs.
I like what Franklin Delano Roosevelt said: "No Business which depends for existence on paying less than living
wages to its workers has any right to continue in this country. By living wages I mean more than a bare subsistence level
-- I mean the wages of a decent living." And I agree with Wal-Mart C.E.O. Lee Scott who said, "The U.S. minimum
wage of $5.15 an hour has not been raised in nearly a decade and we believe it is out of date with the times."
Seventeen states and the District of Columbia have acted on their own to increase the minimum wage in their states. It
seems to have helped their economies. Studies of the impact on small businesses in states that have increased their minimum
wages show they have more growth in business, growth in the number of small businesses, quicker employment growth, and payroll
growth. That mirrors what happened in 1914 when Henry Ford shocked people by doubling wages in his factories and lowering
the work day from nine to eight hours. "One of the finest cost-cutting moves we ever made." Why? It created a
happier, more productive work force and also decreased absenteeism and turnover. One other thing. His employees could afford
his cars. They became customers. Dollars in the hands of low-income families tend to turn-over more times in the economy
than dollars in the hands of higher incomes.
The Rev. Copley's ballot proposal also adds one thing that would help prevent the situation we face right now where static
minimum wage levels mean that workers fall further behind every year. His initiative would raise the wage to $6.15 and then
apply an inflation calculator in subsequent years. That's long-term good news for the poor.
Who would this help? In Arkansas 12% of the labor force makes less than $6.15 an hour, that's 127,000 workers. 80% are
adults over twenty. A majority work full-time; almost two-thirds are women.
As I write, the Attorney General is ruling on the ballot title. After that, the Rev. Copley and the "Give Arkansas
a Raise" Coalition can begin collecting signatures on petitions. This looks like something that ought to attract support
from groups like the Arkansas Family Council and Arkansas Advocates for Children and Families, as well as from individuals
who endorse the Biblical values of justice and care for the poor. If you'd like to help Rev. Copley, you can contact him
at scopley438@aol.com or (501) 626-9220.
1-9-06
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