Letter to the Editor by Joseph Rotella
Boston Globe, Dec 5, 2013
As a small-business owner with around 10 employees, I am working hard every day to survive in the current economic climate. Yet I strongly support raising the minimum wage precisely because our economy should be about making sure every available job pays a livable wage.
It should not be about large corporations being concerned only with their bottom line.
Providing goods and services and making a profit, while still providing for the welfare of employees, is how I operate, and it should be an integral part of our entire economic system. As a business owner, I should not be at a disadvantage because I want to pay fair wages to my employees.
Detractors say that raising the minimum wage would hurt the economic recovery. The economy will never fully recover if vast numbers of people cannot earn enough to provide for themselves and their families, while CEOs’ salaries have skyrocketed to unprecedented levels.
A decent minimum wage is just one of the steps toward creating a fair and just economic system that supports all of us and our communities. Rather than stifle the economy, raising the minimum wage likely would increase opportunity, since more money would be in the hands of people who will spend it. ...
Joseph Rotella
Waltham
The writer is owner of Spencer Organ Co. Inc.