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THE BURRITO CHAIN THAT PAYS ENTRY-LEVEL WORKERS $10 AN HOUR AND WANTS TO PAY MORE |
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Tag Archives: United States
On Strike
Fast Food Workers Strike for a Higher Minimum Wage
Fast food workers in at least 60 cities across the country went on strike today in order to demand a living wage.
The Service Employees International Union (SEIU) notes that the median wage for fast food workers at chains like KFC, McDonald’s, and Taco Bell is just $8.94 per hour.
Meanwhile, the industry is raking in $200 BILLION a year in profits and CEOs are literally making thousands of dollars per hour:
Yet while top executives at food corporations like McDonald’s, Taco Bell, Olive Garden and Red Lobster make an average of $9.4 million per year, or $4,517 per hour, a full-time worker on minimum wage earns $15,080 per year — less than those execs pull down in four hours. And while the industry takes in $200 billion a year, many of its workers rely on taxpayer-subsidized food stamps and Medicaid to get by.
Here are some fast facts about the minimum wage — and why it’s time to raise it.
Raising the Minimum Wage Would Boost the Economy
- When the minimum wage is increased for workers, the entire economy benefits. Increasing the minimum wage would put money in the pocket of workers, who are likely to spend the money immediately on things like housing, food, and gas. This boost in demand for goods and services helps stimulate the economy. The money gets funneled back to employers who would need to hire more staff to keep up with the demand.
Millions of Americans Would Benefit From Increasing the Minimum Wage
- Millions of workers would benefit from raising the minimum wage. Raising the minimum wage would not just help those who earn the minimum wage. Workers earning near the new minimum wage would also see an indirect increase due to what economists call a spillover effect.
- Women would benefit tremendously from raising the minimum wage. Most minimum wage workers are women—in 2012, over 64% of minimum-wage workers were women.
Wages Have Not Kept Up With Increased Productivity or Inflation
Over the past few decades, worker productivity in the U.S. has risen dramatically, but the average American worker is not reaping the benefits. Instead, wages have grown at a tepid pace, and workers are getting a smaller and smaller piece of the pie.
- Wages are not keeping pace with increased productivity. From 1968 to 2012, worker productivity rose 124%. If the minimum wage kept up with increases in worker productivity, the minimum wage would be close to $22 an hour.
- The minimum wage has not kept pace with inflation. Back in 1968, the federal minimum wage was $1.60 an hour. If the minimum wage kept up with inflation, it would be $10.74 today. Today’s minimum wage of $7.25 an hour is 31% lower than the value of the minimum wage in 1968.
Rising Inequality
Although the average workers’ wages have remained stagnant, the pay for those at the top has skyrocketed.
- CEOs make 273 times more than average workers do. In 1965, CEOs made 20.1 times the pay of the average worker. By 2012, that ratio was more than 10 times larger: CEOs made 273 times the pay of the average worker in 2012.
- The 1% is getting richer and richer. Between 1979 and 2007, the richest top 1% of American households saw their income rise by 281%, or an increase of more than $973,000 per household. Meanwhile, the poorest Americans saw an increase in their income of only 16%, or $2,400.
Raising the Minimum Wage is a Winning Issue
Raising the minimum wage, which nearly three in four Americans supports, is also “a political goldmine” for Democrats:
Wouldn’t it be nice if there was an issue that was hugely popular with the public, fit perfectly into the progressive agenda, appealed to the white working class, and split the Republican Party right in half? Sounds to be good to be true, right? Actually, it’s hiding in plain sight: raising the minimum wage.
BOTTOM LINE: One demand of the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, which happened 50 years ago yesterday, was “a national minimum wage act that will give all Americans a decent standard of living.” As we reflect on the legacy of Dr. King, our increasingly economically unequal society, and the plight of low-wage workers, it’s clear that it’s way past time to raise the minimum wage.
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Eye on the Amazon: Yasuní & Indigenous Peoples
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Rights and Responsibility: The Failure of Yasuni- ITT and What it means for Ecuador’s Indigenous Peoples
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a message from kathy of UCS …
I’m writing because we had a big win since then—after an enormous outcry from UCS and other concerned citizens and groups, the Koch brothers have dropped their attempt to buy up eight major newspapers.
This is a huge victory, but we know the Kochs aren’t going away yet. Along with funding climate-denying front groups, they’re still trying to buy up media (a Koch spokesman said “Koch continues to have an interest in the media business and we’re exploring a broad range of opportunities…”). We’ll continue to keep a sharp eye on the Kochs’ activities and defend climate science at every step. But we need your help and continued involvement. If you’d like to support our efforts, you can make a special gift to UCS now >>
—Kathy
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What do you do when you’re a billionaire and scientific facts about climate change can hurt your bottom line? You fund a massive network of disinformation. And if that doesn’t work, you try to buy some newspapers.
Oil tycoons Charles and David Koch are behind nearly every major effort to stall climate progress in the United States. They bankroll anti-science “think tanks”, pay “experts” to publish faulty reports—and now they’re trying to buy a chain of eight major newspapers, including the Chicago Tribune and Los Angeles Times.1
UCS members are fighting back—exposing Koch-funded “authorities” and sending thousands of letters to newspaper owners asking them not to sell to these ideologues. Our campaign has reached a fever pitch. Will you help?
Stand up for science and fight the Koch machine—donate today >>
It’s tough to even track all the ways Koch money permeates America’s dialogue on clean energy and climate change. But no one out there is doing a better job than UCS. And we’re not just tracking it. We’re doing something about it:
| The Koch Brothers stop at nothing to undermine climate science and clean energy… | ~~ UCS members stop at nothing to defend them… ~~ |
| Koch-funded campaigns attack progress on renewable energy in state after state—opposing solar development in Georgia and wind power in Ohio through misinformation campaigns, citing inaccurate statistics.2 | ~~ UCS members give lawmakers the facts. Just this year, you’ve sent tens of thousands of letters that make the case for renewable energy—and we’re winning in state after state, including the Kochs’ home state of Kansas.3 ~~ |
| The Koch Brothers bankroll anti-science “think tanks” like the Heartland Institute, infamous for its billboard campaign equating climate scientists with Osama bin Laden and the Unabomber.4 | ~~ UCS exposes the money behind these groups—and publishes science-based reports, trusted by policymakers, that answer tough questions on global warming, extreme weather, nuclear safety, and agriculture.~~ |
| They hire “experts” to distort science to protect their bottom line. A Koch-owned company was just taken to task for planting misinformation in scientific journals to hide a product’s cancer-causing risk.5 | ~~ Our experts stand up for science in the media, in statehouses, and on Capitol Hill, correcting distorted science through interviews and testimony. ~~ |
| They go after big media. The Kochs are looking to buy eight trusted papers, including the Chicago Tribune and Los Angeles Times, where their influence could distort the truth about climate change and energy policy.6 | ~~ UCS members hold a spotlight up to disinformation in the media. Together, we’ve exposed Fox News and The Wall Street Journal for their distorted coverage of climate science, and uncovered media outlets that fail to warn readers about conflicts of interest.7 ~~ |
The Koch Brothers will keep fighting until there’s no fight left. That’s how they operate.
There’s only one way to respond. When they distort the facts, we say so and tell the truth. When they lobby lawmakers, we flood offices with constituent calls and letters. When they try to hide their trail of influence and money, we shine a spotlight. When others duck, UCS members stand up, stand together, and fight back—with science on our side.
This fight needs your support right now. Make a special gift today.
There’s no time to waste.
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Consumer Unions : the EPA needs to hear from you
Cleaner Air:
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Let’s get this done!
Last month the Senate finally confirmed new EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy, and she has a lot of important work to do. That includes a clean-car plan that is widely supported by health groups, cities, enviros – even the auto industry.
With some minor changes to new cars, and cleaner gasoline that would add about a penny per gallon, this plan would remove the equivalent of 33 million polluting cars from our roads!
But Big Oil is digging in against it. They don’t want to make changes in their refineries, and they want your family to live with the consequences – dirtier air, dirtier environment.
Let’s show the new EPA Administrator that Americans support this common-sense plan. Send a quick email of support now, and show Big Oil that they don’t run our country!
EPA needs to hear from you, not Big Oil!If Americans speak out in support of a plan that will clean up our gasoline and our air, we can beat back Big Oil. But we have to get this done by the end of the year. Tell the EPA’s new boss to approve it now! |
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The clock is ticking on a clean-car plan that will dramatically slash pollution in our cities – the equivalent of taking 33 million cars off our roads!
The Environmental Protection Agency has only four months to finalize a plan that would clean up our gasoline so it doesn’t emit so much pollution when it’s burned. And with a new EPA administrator now on board, we have a great opportunity to get it moving!
Of course, Big Oil is out in force trying to kill it. They don’t want to make needed changes in their refineries, and they expect you to live with the consequences – tens of thousands of more respiratory problems in kids and adults, and the resulting environmental problems.
While many of us would like a world without polluting cars, we’re just not there yet. But we can make a huge dent in pollution by cleaning up the gas our vehicles run on. The air near our roadways has high concentrations of particulates, ozone, carbon monoxide, lead and sulfur – over 50 percent of which come from vehicles.
This plan would add under a penny to a gallon of gas, and less than $150 to the cost of a new car in 2025. It’s widely backed by public health officials, cities, environmentalists – even the auto industry is on board.
But Big Oil is digging in! They’re hoping to run out the clock or get Congress to intervene and kill it. That’s why it’s so important EPA Administrator McCarthy finalizes the plan soon!
If you have friends and family who would join you in action, please forward this email to them. Let’s show the new EPA director that Big Oil doesn’t run our country!
Sincerely, Shannon Baker-Branstetter, Consumers Union Policy and Action from Consumer Reports
Be a Seed for Change 
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