President Barack Obama faced a union crowd in Milwaukee and delivered a message on Labor Day, signaling the start of the autumn campaign for the midterm congressional elections. He aggressively stressed the country's recent economic gains and touched on the topic of minimum wage. The latter has always been a controversial subject and has gained increasing attention over the past couple of months. By saying that the people of America deserve a raise, there's no doubt that Obama had once again added fire to the wage debate.
In 1938, President Franklin Roosevelt signed the Fair Labor Standards Act. It established the law that industries had to pay a minimum of 25 cents per hour for a work week of 40 hours. The act had brought stability to the U.S.' work industry.
Seventy-six years later, the topic on raising the federal minimum wage is brought up once again with the rate set at $10.10. Currently, the level is at $7.25. While the public agrees on the idea, many people understand that the raise is only applicable to deserving employees.
"Some people don't deserve a pay raise and some people, they deserve it. So, you give the pay raise based on merit. Not because the government says you have to do it," says Danny White, owner of Race City Amusement Park.
Obama said that Congress needs a lot of catching up with the businesses and other institutions. It also needs to catch up with the 13 states and the District of Columbia which had already implemented the minimum wage raise.
"The bottom line is, America deserves a raise," says Obama. "But until we've got a Congress that cares about raising working folks' wages, it's up to the rest of us to make it happen."
Obama reiterates the wide range of policies that benefit the workforce. These include Social Security, Medicare, weekends, and past fights by labor unions. He believed that these policies build a stronger middle class. He added that the middle class could become stronger if workers would have a share in economic prosperity.
"Raising the minimum wage [would be] one of the best ways to give a boost to working families," says Obama.
Many people believe that an increase in the minimum wage would hurt small businesses and would result to a slowed down hiring. No one thinks that Congress would take action prior to the November elections.
Obama already signed an Executive Order that will mandate all government contracted workers to receive a pay of at least $10.10 per hour. He will continue to convince Congress to vote on the proposed federal minimum wage.
