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Show i mm WWi A LOOK AT THE U.S. MINIMUM WAGE The January 1, hike in the U.S. minimum wage from $2.90 an hour to $3.10 has brought fresh attention to this always controversial feature of the economic picture. Neither management officials nor labor leaders are particularly happy with the 20 cent climb, the former warning that it will doubtless make for higher inflation and heavier unemployment, the latter claiming it is so small that it has already been wiped out by inflation. There was similar disagreement between these forces when the two earlier hikes in the wage minimum were put in effect in 1978 and 1979. The fourth and last of such changes enacted by Congress in 1977 is scheduled to carry the minimum wage up to $3.35 in 1981. Already the unions are fighting for an even more sizable boost while the nation's employers and their business groups are lining up against labor on the issue. Both sides are making every 'to prove their separate stands. WEIGHING THE LATEST HIKE The January 1 lift in the minimum wage was designed to benefit approximately approx-imately 5 million workers at the bottom of the pay scale. The way it looks to the experts at this time, job categories most likely to be influenced include restaurant waiters and dishwashers, hotel porters and maids, messengers, store trainees, and unskilled laborers. Almost all of those affected are expected ex-pected to be nonunion, with a special impact on youthful and minority employees. This :ros recent climb amounts to some 6.8. just short of the guideline figure set by President Carter for wage raises within an estimated noninfla-tionary noninfla-tionary range. Wages in general moved up an average of 8.1 over the past twelve months while the rate of inflation infla-tion was just over 12. ALF-CIO's researcher, Mr. Rudy Oswald is of the opinion that even the new minimum is going to leave the recipients far behind in purchasing power. In fact, he asserts that they are bound to have difficulty in affording even the bare necessities of life. IK POINT OK BUSINESS While labor would like to see a higher minimum than is set for the beginning of 1981, business would prefer to see hikes deferred completely, at least for the time being. President Richard Lescher of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Com-merce has pointed out that whenever the minimum rate goes up many employers are forced to eliminate low-echelon low-echelon jobs. The chamber and other business organizations stress, also, that hiking the lowest pay rates leads very quickly to increases all along the line in order to maintain the differentials between bet-ween lower-skill and higher-skill working work-ing levels. So, it is charged, upping the minimum is only the opening wedge for general pay increases. A top executive of a large hotel complex com-plex reported recently that the minimum wage boosts for 1978 and 1979 resulted in 1,500 layoffs and shorter working weeks for employees in his hotel, restaurant, and food establishements. He went on to say that service industries of all types are especially hard hit when the minimum wage js lifted because the only recourse most companies of this sort have is to up prices to cover the difference. Through this move, claimed the executive, ex-ecutive, everybody turns out to be a loser. NEXT IN THE CARDS The AFL-CIO would like to have the minimum wage fastened at a fixed percentage of the average wage of manufacturing workers, 53 or higher. In 1977, however, Congress rejected proposals for such indexing of the pay minimum, and there have been no signs thus far that the Members are likely to change their position. The latest advance ad-vance places the minimum wage at 49 of the industrial average. If Inflation stays "hot," business will intensify its pressure against another hike as scheduled for 1981. |