By Dennis Sadowski
Catholic News Service, 6/19/2014
America: The National Catholic Review, Boston Pilot, Catholic Philly.com, Catholic Sentinel, Catholic Courier, The Message, more
WASHINGTON (CNS) -- While Congress has stalled on adopting an increase in the federal minimum wage, steps are being taken across the country to boost the income of low-wage workers. From Massachusetts and Vermont to Seattle and San Francisco, state legislators and city councils have either acted on or are negotiating minimum wage hikes. ...
Meanwhile, a new report from Oxfam America called for Congress to end the gridlock and adopt an increase in the federal minimum wage from $7.25 per hour to $10.10 per hour with an index to inflation.On average, about 40,000 low-wage workers in each congressional district across the country would benefit if the minimum wage were increased, said Raymond C. Offenheiser, president of Oxfam America during a teleconference to release the report. ...
"We support increasing the minimum wage because it is the right thing to do and more importantly it is the just thing to do," Father [Larry] Snyder [president of Catholic Charities USA] explained. "People who work fulltime should not have to live in poverty," he said, noting that at Catholic Charities agencies across the country working people receive assistance with food, rent, utility payments and other necessities. ...
Echoing Father Snyder, Sherry Stewart Deutschmann, CEO of LetterLogic, a 12-year-old mail services company in Nashville, Tennessee, said she believes paying a living wage is better for business and her employees. New employees at the company start at $14 per hour and Deutschmann said she has a profit-sharing plan in place and offers a generous benefits package that includes fully paid health insurance and tuition reimbursement.
"As a small-business owner, I never understood the logic and other business owners arguing against increasing the minimum wage. Increasing the minimum wage is better for business," Deutschmann explained.
"I knew I could not have quality service if (employees) are thinking the lights might not be on when they got home or they could not pay the rent," she said. ...
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Editor's Note: the full Oxfam America report can be found online at bit.ly/1nwZ2Xy.