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Thursday, September 22, 2005
Lies and the Lying Liars Who Tell Them
(Click image for larger version.)
I see the anti-living wage zealots and their cohorts are out there in full force these days, muddying the issue and lying about what the ballot initiative would require, if passed. I guess if I had a choice between having to defend keeping way too many of our citizens in poverty in order to attack the intiative and pretending that the issue was really about hordes of people invading the private areas of businesses and combing through their records, I'd choose the latter. That way I wouldn't be viewed as a cold-hearted, selfish Scrooge unconcerned with basic fairness and justice for all.
But let's face it. Many opponents of the living wage law just can't abide the idea of the rabble making enough to take their families to a restaurant once a month, even if the extra change on the street would actually benefit restaurants in this way. Go figure.
Some truths about the proposed raise in the minimum wage that's on the Albuquerque ballot October 4:
Big business has been lying on TV, radio, and in newspapers about what the living wage measure does. It does not--in any way--allow the public into any business work area or school or hospital. It does not allow anyone to talk to customers or disrupt business. It explicitly limits the right to educate employees about their rights to NON-WORK areas, and has other restrictions, too.
PASS IT ON!
Click for a pdf of the ad shown above from this week's Alibi. And here's another with a white background. Please print it out and make copies to give to friends and family, or email it as an attachment. But that's not going to be enough to counter the total lies of the Albuquerque Chamber of Commerce. YOU have to forward this to everyone you know in New Mexico. YOU have to talk to your friends about what the living wage really does (and what it's done in the 17 states and the District of Columbia--plus Santa Fe--which have a higher minimum wage than Bush's $5.15):
it increases pride in work
it motivates people to work
it increases productivity
it decreases crime
it decreases welfare
it lowers turnover
it increases morale
it brings more money into our city from big
multinational corporations
it means more economic activity
it means greater profits
and most of all . . .
it means that we're a moral society that looks out for the least among us.
MAKE A DONATION & ENCOURAGE OTHERS TO DO SO!
And if possible, please try to convince friends, coworkers and families to chip in to make sure that we can get this message on TV, radio, and in even more publications. Here's the place to donate to this effort: https://www.abqlivingwage.org/
Voting yes for a higher minimum wage on October 4 is something each and every Albuquerquean can be proud of. But without spreading the truth about this bill, we may be left with the shame of having turned our backs on our most vulnerable families, all because of deceitful, dishonest big-money advertising.
September 22, 2005 at 09:21 AM in Current Affairs | Permalink
Comments
The information provided regarding the living wage progress is somewhat misleading,many of the cities that have supposedly adopted the living wage legislation have been in regards to private contract workers. If you researched the living wage proposals of other cities, they are not a movement from the city level to raise the minimum wage city wide, the real progress has been to raise wages regarding contract labor that comes from out of state. New Mexico does practice a wage increase for out of state contract labor work. They are required to pay substantially more than the federal minimum wage.
Posted by: Celina | Sep 22, 2005 9:47:29 AM
True, there are many variations on this law, but the momentum is definitely on the side of laws like this one, because they work. Many cities are considering them or passing them. And on the state level, even Florida has passed one -- as we know, it's a Red State.
If the government totally dominated by Republicans would do its job and raise the minimum wage at the federal level, there would be no need for laws at the city or state level. However, the federal minimum wage HAS NOT BEEN RAISED FOR ABOUT 10 YEARS! And we all know how much prices have gone up in that time.
If I recall, a new study shows that 30,000+ people would benefit from Albuquerque's living wage and their average age is 31. Hardly the teen population constantly cited by opponents.
Posted by: Joey | Sep 22, 2005 9:55:39 AM
i think it's important to push minimum wage at the state level - not just in albuquerque. we need to protect all of new mexico's workers, not just those in albuquerque. i fear that many companies - especially large employers - will chose to locate in the county or rio rancho instead of abq because its cheaper to do business there.
we need our progressive state legislators to step up and move min wage legislation at the state level to protect *all* new mexico workers and protect albuquerque from losing important business to the suburbs and exurbs.
Posted by: progressive dem | Sep 22, 2005 11:16:09 AM
Kind of a silly comment, "progressive dem." What kind of a large employer would we be attracting that wouldn't be willing to pay at least $7.50 an hour? And why would we want such an employer in Albuquerque? We want good paying jobs, not those that pay less than what it costs to have some kind of decent life.
Using your "logic," why have a minimum wage at the state level either -- the employer could run to the next state. Oh, and why have a federal minimum either -- the employer could run to India or China.
What we want and need to attract are employers who are willing to pay a decent wage for skilled, hard workers. Firms that want those kinds of workers are generally much better corporate citizens than those who are only looking to make a fast buck by paying the lowest wages and not caring about people or the quality of their product. The fast buck artists will just use the tax breaks we give and move on to the next sucker town whenever they feel like it.
A statewide minimum wage may be a good thing, but I'm not holding my breath. First things first. We CAN obtain a raise in the minimum wage if we all get out and vote, right NOW.
Posted by: JLK | Sep 22, 2005 2:42:31 PM
