Fox Guarding the Chicken House for $7.25/hour

Posted: Oct 27, 2014

Perhaps Scott Walker, Wisconsin Tea Party/Republican governor,should have consulted the CEOs at the large MTSOs on their minimum wage expertise. Really, who can live on $7.25 an hour? * * * The International Business Times article: Minimum Wage: Scott Walker Based 'Living Wage' Ruling On Restaurant Industry Study by David Sorota "Under pressure to raise the state's minimum wage, Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker confidently declared that there was no need. Low-wage workers had filed a complaint charging that the state's minimum wage -- $7.25 -- did not constitute a "living wage" as mandated by state law. But the Republican governor's administration, after examining the issue, announced on Oct. 6 that it found "no reasonable cause" for the workers' complaint. That official government finding, according to documents reviewed by the International Business Times, was largely based on information provided by the state's restaurant industry -- which represents major low-wage employers including fast-food companies. The Raise Wisconsin campaign, which is pushing for a higher minimum wage, requested all documents on which the state based the "living wage" ruling. And the only economic analysis that the administration released in response was one from the Wisconsin Restaurant Association -- a group that lobbies against minimum wage increases, and whose website says it is includes low-wage employers such as "fast food outlets" and "corporate chain restaurants." The restaurant association's study argued that a minimum wage increase would harm the state. It did not actually address whether workers can survive on the $7.25 minimum wage." ;