Letter to the Editor: Republicans should stop playing games and increase the minimum wage

08/09/2006

By State Rep. Tom Rukavina, DFL-Virginia
Crookston Daily Times
Published: Tuesday, August 8, 2006 12:06 PM CDT


As members of Congress were debating a bill that includes an increase in the federal minimum wage, I think it’s an apt time to take a closer look at their bill and look back at the minimum wage increase we passed last year for Minnesotans.

Let’s start with the GOP’s bill in Congress. Aside from tying a minimum wage increase to more tax giveaways to the wealthy, their bill would cut the wages of thousands of Minnesota restaurant waiters, waitresses, bartenders, and other tipped employees. How can a bill to increase the minimum wage actually decrease the pay of some workers you ask?

Republicans have inserted a national “tip credit” into the bill that sets the base wage for tipped workers at $2.13 an hour. For seven states, including Minnesota, whose tipped workers are paid the state minimum wage (in Minnesota it’s $6.15 an hour for large employers and $5.25 for smaller ones), this provision could result in massive wage cuts for people living here and in the other six states.

Many people don’t realize the benefits of paying tipped workers the full minimum wage. First, when combined with tips, many waiters, waitresses and bartenders can make a living wage that puts food on the table and money into our economy. Secondly, most restaurant waiters and waitresses share their tips with the kitchen staff. If their wages get cut by over $3.00 an hour, it means cooks and dishwashers will be coming home with less money too.

During debate on legislation I authored to raise Minnesota’s state minimum wage, a majority of Republicans attempted to cut working Minnesotans’ pay by passing a tip credit. They failed. Every Democrat in the Minnesota House of Representatives voted to give hard-working Minnesotans their full wage. Governor Pawlenty even sent a letter saying he would veto a minimum wage increase unless we agreed to count tips as wages, thus reducing the income of thousands of Minnesotans. I refused to do this and he backed down. Now, Republicans in Congress want to do what their Minnesota counterparts couldn’t and bring the wages of hard-working Minnesotans down.

I agree that we need to increase the minimum wage for all Americans, the $5.15 an hour wage isn’t enough to provide for a family. Congress should vote on whether to increase the minimum wage. Republicans need to stop playing games and let Congress vote on a bill that doesn’t undermine working Minnesotans.

Rukavina is a member of the Minnesota House of Representatives and was chief author of legislation that raised Minnesota’s minimum wage in 2005.