THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Tuesday, May 21, 1996 TAG: 9605210001
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A14 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Opinion
SOURCE: By HOWARD M. JACOBSON
LENGTH: Medium: 62 lines
It is understandable that a member of Congress being paid $133,000 annually has no understanding of the need for a raise in the minimum wage.
It is understandable that the member of Congress receiving perks - franking and parking privileges, barber shop, traveling allowances, etc., amounting to far more than the $4.25-an-hour employee earns - has no feel for the cost of living for the lowest-paid wage earners.
It is also understandable how the deskbound academic economist, earning $100,000 plus fellowship perks, would not comprehend the frustration of the minimum-wage earner scraping along on less than $10,000 annually.
But it is not understandable how all of these high-earning theorists do not grasp the benefits of making low-wage employees self-supporting.
Nor is it understandable that these naysayers are not aware that low-wage people put every dime of their earnings back into the economy. If they are willing to work for the minimum wage, they are trying to be self-supporting; they are trying to come off welfare and food stamps; they are trying to build their self-esteem and climb the ladder for a better job.
As an owner of a small plant - 75 to 100 employees - minimum-wage employees are hired, but not for long. If they demonstrate good work ethics, they are trained for more-skilled work and higher wages. No employee is ever employed because he is willing to work for $4.25 an hour. He is employed because there is need for a warehouse helper, office cleaner, dishwasher, domestic, etc. These jobs will not disappear at $5 an hour.
Recently, House Speaker Newt Gingrich stated on ``Face the Nation'' that 400,000 jobs would disappear. Hogwash! Does Gingrich think that the million-dollar-compensated CEO is going to empty his own trash basket? He won't - a minimum-wage earner will.
Does Gingrich think that the restaurant owner is going to stay after hours to wash the dishes or sweep up? Does he think that Mr. Wendy or Mr. McDonald can man the registers in their respective thousands of hamburger stands? Does he think that either employer will sell ``double deckers'' at $1.09 rather than 99 cents. Gingrich's declaration was asinine, without merit or experience - purely political.
The minimum wage of Germany, Japan and most West European countries is higher than ours, and we have an unfavorable trade balance with many of them.
When CEOs decide to eliminate jobs to maximize their bottom line, they do not eliminate minimum-wage jobs. To increase their bonuses, they eliminate higher-paying, middle-management jobs.
The gap between the pay of the average CEO and his employee in our country is greater than in any industrial country in the world.
Legislation that would tax unreasonable CEO compensation - deferred and sheltered - and increase minimum-wage earners' income would be good for the economy.
It is not understandable how members of Congress, who read the same newspapers as their constituents, do not read that the polls indicate overwhelming support by the voters for an increase in the minimum wage. The big-campaign-contributor MEMO: Howard Jacobson is a resident of Norfolk. by CNB