Victor Fazio: “Yesterday marked the fifth year in a row that the productivity of the American worker has increased. But despite this…”

“Yesterday marked the fifth year in a row that the productivity of the American worker has increased. But despite this good news, most American workers have had no real increase in earnings in over 15 years. In the last Congress, we gave a tax cut to help those Americans who were working hard but failing behind. Now, President Clinton has endorsed a small increase in the minimum wage to reward Americans who choose work, not welfare. At the current minimum wage--just $4.25 an hour--someone working day-in and day-out would bring home just $8,500 a year. A family of four trying to live on this wage--just $700 a month--would find it nearly impossible to pay the rent, buy groceries, or purchase clothes for school. If the minimum wage is increased by just 90 cents over 2 years--we can provide working Americans with additional rewards for their work. And while we are at it, let's arbitrate an end to the baseball strike.”