To the editor:
Should there be an increase in the minimum wage? If you look at the U.S. Department of Labor statistics for employment by sector and industry, 116 million of our total 134 million jobs are located in the low-paying service industry. The manufacturing sector now only contains a declining 12 million jobs and is predicted to decline even farther by 2022. Information services have declined 1.2 millions jobs since 2002 to a meager 2.6 million jobs. Total projections for 2022 show the biggest gains in employment occurring in the services sector with total gains in all sectors at only 1 percent. Self-employment has declined to nine million jobs.
According to the Maine State Employees Association, if the minimum wage had followed worker productivity, the minimum wage would be $22 per hour. According to Moyers and Company, only the top 1 percent have benefited from the recovery. All gains in GDP since 2009 have gone to the top without benefiting the lower 90 percent.
I am sure that with the drastic increase in the supply side of the labor market that equilibrium has been significantly lowered. Global automotive industry analysts predict equilibrium in the standard of living between developed and developing countries within six years. The standard of living will continue to decline in developed countries, and the standard of living will continue to rise in developing countries until equilibrium is reached by 2020.
With 50 percent of all college graduates unable to find work that requires a college degree, I do not see education and training as a major solution to our current situation. There is overwhelming support for an increase in minimum wage among the general population. The rhetoric and opposition comes from the fantasy land of Washington, created by the wealthy, where people do not work and/or struggle every day to survive.
Wilbur Clark
Presque Isle
