By Clarence Page
Chicago Tribune, Syndicated, numerous papers, June 19, 2013
... In the nation's capital, the local Fast Food Forward protests have a special federal flavor, and it's aimed directly at the White House. They're urging President Barack Obama to sign an executive order that would require contractors in federal facilities to increase what they pay their employees.
Among the real people it would affect is Melissa Roseboro, who joined a strike in May from her job at the McDonald's in the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum. She works 35 hours a week, she told a congressional hearing in May, for $8.33 an hour with no benefits — with which she helps support her two children. "I made this sacrifice to send the president a clear message," she told me after the hearings. "People are suffering." ...
Republicans argue that raising the cost of labor will increase unemployment. But studies by economist David Card of the University of California at Berkeley demonstrated in real-life experiments that raising the minimum wage did not result in labor loss, partly because it helped reduce turnover.
That view is supported by Costco's CEO Craig Jelinek, who said in a statement that his company pays a starting wage of $11.50 across the country and is "still able to keep our overhead costs low." In March he not only endorsed Obama's proposal but called for an even higher minimum-wage increase — to $10.10 an hour, plus indexing for inflation.
In fact, if the current federal minimum wage only kept up with inflation since its 1968 peak, it would now be $10.58, according to a March study by the Center for Economic and Policy Research. But the minimum wage will stay where it is, losing value over time because of inflation, unless congressional Republicans agree to bump it up.
In the meantime, Obama could bring some relief and set a good example. He has the power with his presidential pen to require a minimum-wage increase for employees of businesses, including fast-food vendors, that have contracts with the federal government.
It wouldn't relieve all low-wage workers, but it would be a powerful place to start.
Clarence Page, a member of the Tribune's editorial board, blogs at chicagotribune.com/pagespage.
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