Following last Friday night’s debate where he refused to answer a moderator’s question on whether or not he believes in a minimum wage, Scott Walker yesterday clarified his position on the minimum wage while speaking with the editorial board of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel saying, “I don’t think it serves a purpose.”
Walker has previously come under fire for his opposition to an increase in the minimum wage, even as a majority of Wisconsinites support an increase, defending his position by commenting that minimum wage jobs are largely held by kids, like when he and Paul Ryan worked at McDonald’s as teenagers.
While it’s important that kids who need and want to work have the opportunity to do so, more and more adults with families are relying on minimum wage jobs in industries like fast food and retail due to the anemic job growth we’ve seen in Scott Walker’s Wisconsin — often without access to paid time off or health insurance.
Under Scott Walker, Wisconsin ranks dead last – 10th out of 10 states – in the Midwest in private sector job creation and the typical Wisconsin family has seen their real income drop by $3,000.
Increasing the minimum wage to $10.10 an hour will put money in the pockets of more than 300,000 Wisconsin workers. Those workers will spend most of what they earn in their community on things they need, like rent, food, and clothing, so an increase in the minimum wage is also a tremendously effective way to grow Wisconsin’s lagging economy.
“It’s bad enough that Scott Walker doesn’t support a commonsense increase in the minimum wage, even though a majority of Wisconsinites agree with raising it, but to suggest that a minimum wage isn’t necessary is appalling,” Democratic Party of Wisconsin Chair Mike Tate said Wednesday. “Scott Walker likes to talk about ‘the dignity of work’ when he’s kicking people off their healthcare or making it harder to collect unemployment insurance but he won’t stand up and do something about the great indignity facing Wisconsinites who work full-time and still live in poverty.”
While it’s important that kids who need and want to work have the opportunity to do so, more and more adults with families are relying on minimum wage jobs in industries like fast food and retail due to the anemic job growth we’ve seen in Scott Walker’s Wisconsin — often without access to paid time off or health insurance.
Under Scott Walker, Wisconsin ranks dead last – 10th out of 10 states – in the Midwest in private sector job creation and the typical Wisconsin family has seen their real income drop by $3,000.
Increasing the minimum wage to $10.10 an hour will put money in the pockets of more than 300,000 Wisconsin workers. Those workers will spend most of what they earn in their community on things they need, like rent, food, and clothing, so an increase in the minimum wage is also a tremendously effective way to grow Wisconsin’s lagging economy.
“It’s bad enough that Scott Walker doesn’t support a commonsense increase in the minimum wage, even though a majority of Wisconsinites agree with raising it, but to suggest that a minimum wage isn’t necessary is appalling,” Democratic Party of Wisconsin Chair Mike Tate said Wednesday. “Scott Walker likes to talk about ‘the dignity of work’ when he’s kicking people off their healthcare or making it harder to collect unemployment insurance but he won’t stand up and do something about the great indignity facing Wisconsinites who work full-time and still live in poverty.”
