Tuesday, September 26, 2023
Chair Jehlen, Chair Cusack, and Members of the Joint Committee on Labor and Workforce Development:
My name is Jonathan Cohn, and I am the policy director at Progressive Massachusetts. We are a statewide, multi-issue, grassroots membership organization focused on fighting for policy that would make our Commonwealth more equitable, just, sustainable, and democratic.
We urge you to give a favorable report to H.1925: An Act relative to the minimum wage, S.1200: An Act relative to raising the minimum wage closer to a living wage in the Commonwealth, and S.1188 / H.1872: An Act requiring one fair wage.
Raising the Minimum Wage (S.1200/H.1925)
In 2018, Massachusetts set an example for other states and the country by passing a $15 minimum wage. As of January 2023, the full increase has now taken effect, but $15 has lost significant purchasing power due to the rising cost of food, utilities, rent, and other basic necessities. Indeed, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, today’s minimum wage would need to be more than $18 to have the same purchasing power as $15 in July 2018.
The $15 minimum wage, while an improvement, is also not a living wage. According to the MIT Living Wage Calculator, a living wage for a single adult with no children would be $21.35 per hour. When children enter the picture, that threshold for meeting basic needs gets higher and higher. Moreover, if the minimum wage did rise in step with productivity growth since 1968, it would have met this standard for a living wage.
It’s time to raise the minimum wage again. These bills would raise the minimum wage to $20 per hour and index it to inflation, so that the value does not erode over time. Moreover, these bills correct a glaring omission from the last minimum wage increase: the exclusion of municipal workers. Paraprofessionals and cafeteria workers in some municipalities are still not receiving a minimum wage (let alone a living wage), and we should not be allowing such carveouts. All workers deserve a living wage, and this increase would move us in the right direction.
One Fair Wage (S.1188/H.1872)
The existence of subminimum wages for certain industries, particularly ones where workers are disproportionately women and people of color, is a part of a longstanding history of discrimination and economic exploitation.
Although employers are supposed to guarantee that workers get the full minimum wage with tips, this has never been common practice, and wage theft is rampant in the food service industry. The tiered wage system allows this to happen. We need greater enforcement of wage theft laws, but we need to change the systems that make such wage theft more prevalent.
Moreover, it is well-documented that sexual harassment remains widespread in the restaurant industry. As our country is continuing to grapple with the problem of sexual harassment and sexual assault across industries, we must face up to the fact that unequal wage systems create the breeding ground for such inappropriate and predatory behaviors.
Workers across Massachusetts deserve better and are demanding better, and we urge you to listen and to swiftly report out these bills favorably.
Sincerely,
Jonathan Cohn
Policy Director
Progressive Massachusetts
