Los Angeles Raises Minimum Wage to $15 an Hour

May 19, 2015 Cyrus Dugger

"The nation’s second-largest city voted on Tuesday to increase its minimum wage to $15 an hour by 2020, in what is perhaps the most significant victory so far in the national push to raise the minimum wage.

The increase — which the Los Angeles City Council passed in a 14-1 vote — comes as workers across the country are rallying for higher wages, and several large companies, including Facebook and Walmart, have moved to raise their lowest wages. Several other cities, including San Francisco, Seattle and Oakland, Calif., have already approved increases, and dozens more are considering doing the same. In 2014, a number of Republican-leaning states like Alaska and South Dakota also raised their state-level minimum wage by referendum." (keep reading)

Letterman Probably Not Laughing in Light of Unpaid Intern Class Action

September 10, 2014 Cyrus Dugger

Probably not laughing at all:

"ICM Partners might be happy to hear today that they are not the latest industry enterprise to be hit with an interns lawsuit, but it’s a good bet CBS and The Late Show With David Letterman are not. The network and the late-night show have been walloped with a class action of their own: Late last week, Mallory Musallam filed a class action complaint against CBS Broadcasting, CBS Corp. and the retiring late-night host’s Worldwide Pants on behalf herself and everyone who has ever been an intern on the show. 'Named Plaintiff has initiated this action seeking for herself, and on behalf of all similarly situated employees that also worked on The Late Show With David Letterman, all compensation, including minimum wages and overtime compensation, which they were deprived of, plus interest, attorneys’ fees, and costs,' says the jury demanding filing in New York Supreme Court (read it here)." (link)

Will CBS and Letterman go the way of Charlie Rose and his production company and get ahead of this unpaid intern lawsuit (Rose settled early on in litigation for $110,000), go the way of Fox Searchlight and litigate, lose, appeal, and then cross their fingers, or win and face appeal as in the Hearst unpaid intern litigation?

We shall soon see.

MLK - Economic Justice & Racial Justice Are Intertwined - The Need for a Living Wage

July 3, 2014 Cyrus Dugger

The current debate about the need, or lack thereof, to raise the federal minimum wage is slowly heating up. Advocates stress human dignity and the economic stimulus this policy would advance. Opponents point to the cost to businesses' bottom line - often invoking the mom and pop store that is barely making ends meet.

Although I think proponents very much have the upper hand in this argument - this is surely a place where reasonable minds can disagree.

Or can they?

As in most things, it's sometimes important to take a step back and re-frame modern debates in historical contexts.

Most people remember Martin Luther King, Jr. as one of the great leaders of the civil rights movement. However, near the end of his life, he was increasingly focusing his message on the problems of poverty and economic justice. Moreover, this shift in focus happened well before America had even begun to fully deal with racial equality - so why the shift?

If you are an advocate for a living wage take a moment to see what MLK had to say about it.

If you consider yourself a supporter of MLK, but are opposed to a living wage, you may have to do some soul searching on this issue if you take the time to listen.

Perhaps this should change how we talk about a living wage as a national issue.