Lesson of the day
WORK.
Listen: You can hear the episode here (Apple podcasts) on YouTube, or on our website. Feel free to take notes on our Graphic Organizer!
Do: Take a (wage) Hike
One of the most memorable events in the history of work in America was the passage of the 1938 Fair Labor Standards Act. And what exactly did that act do?? Well, it’s been amended over the years, but it initially established:
Congresswoman “Battling” Mary Norman, who circulated the discharge petition to get the Act on the floor
a 40 hour workweek
1.5x pay for any time in addition to that (overtime)
Restricted jobs for underage workers
A minimum wage
That minimum wage was $0.25 an hour. A quarter. Two bits. An online inflation calculator will tell you that’s $4.55 in 2020 dollars, but those calculators don’t do justice to rent/food/medical costs for the time.
The act faced fierce opposition. It took a discharge petition to drag it out of committee to get it to a final floor vote, and its passage was opposed by members of both parties. And THAT’S what we’re talking about today.
First, have a look at this map. The federal minimum wage is $7.25, but many states have a higher one. What is the minimum wage in your state?
Second, read these two quotes against the 1938 act and this one quote in support of it.
From the National Association of Manufacturers: “it constitutes a step in the direction of communism, Bolshevism, fascism, and Nazism.”
From Rep. Edward Cox (D-GA) “It will destroy small industry ... [these ideas are] the product of those whose thinking is rooted in an alien philosophy and who are bent upon the destruction of our whole constitutional system and the setting up of a red-labor communistic despotism upon the ruins of our Christian civilization.”
And finally, from President Franklin Roosevelt: “Do not let any calamity-howling executive with an income of $1,000 a day… tell you… that a wage of $11 a week is going to have a disastrous effect on all American industry.”
Third, find the echoes.
Look for a recent editorial written in your state either in support of or opposition to raising the minimum wage. You can search the website of your local newspaper. Can you find any arguments similar to the three made above? Are there any other arguments for or against raising the minimum wage that you find especially persuasive?
Finally, after all that, fill this out, and have a lovely week.