It is very important that we raise the profile of the importance of raising the minimum wage in the media. One of the best places to do this is on your local newspapers letter to the editor page. The letters to the editor page is one of the most widely read pages by members of Congress – it is how they keep an eye on what their constituents are thinking. So make sure that you write a letter to the editor!
Here is a sample of a letter to the editor that you might write (it should generally be between 150-250 words):
When it comes to the minimum wage, it is time to catch up with 1968, 30 million hard-working minimum wage workers are making less today than they did 45 years ago. Had the federal minimum wage kept pace with inflation since 1968, it would be $10.56 instead of today’s $7.25 per hour.
In those 45 years, the minimum wage has lost one third of its value; in the same time, average CEO compensation has skyrocketed over 900 percent! Something is wrong when we can live in a world where that is considered acceptable.
Critics say that raising the minimum wage would increase unemployment, harm small businesses, and that most minimum wage workers are just part-time teenage workers. Unfortunately, nothing could be further from the truth! Studies have shown that previous increases to the minimum wage have not increased unemployment, two-thirds of minimum wage workers are employed by large, profitable corporations, and over 75 % of minimum wage workers are at least 20 years old.
A report from the Economic Policy Institute shows that raising the minimum wage to at least $10.50 could add at least $60 billion in consumer spending to the economy. And a Chicago Federal Reserve study shows that for each dollar increase to the minimum wage, the result is $2,800 more annual spending from that minimum wage workers’ household.
Poll after poll has shown that 75 % of Americans support increasing the minimum wage and indexing it to inflation. Public support. Better jobs. Economic stimulus. What are we waiting for?