Wilmington and Lynn Residents Weigh in on Minimum Wage

Take a moment and think about the last time your representative stopped and asked for your opinion on issues that affect your life. When was that? For some communities, representatives are quite in touch with the needs of the people, but for many others, communication could be greatly improved upon.

Agora is a student led project focused on giving citizens a voice. This past Tuesday and Wednesday, the Agora team went out on the field to learn more from the good people of Wilmington and Lynn, Massachusetts. We were curious about how involved people were in local government and whether they believed their voices were being heard. This week’s topic focused on whether or not the minimum wage should be increased. Below, we share some of the stories voiced:

I currently work at McDonalds and make $8.50 an hour and believe that raising the minimum wage is a great idea and would really help with the cost of living. I work a lot but do not earn enough. Meanwhile, there are some people who work very little, but make a ton of money. Therefore, at least to me, raising the minimum wage makes the situation more fair.

I'm a social worker who recently graduated from college with a degree in Sociology. I believe that the country has to better deal with inequality, and raising the minimum wage is a small step in the right direction. Currently, I do not participate much in local government, partly because I do not believe it is really effective or accessible. Often I feel out of the loop by not knowing when events are held, and sometimes I think there could be better representation at those events. Perhaps it might be better that I tackle some tasks myself.

I am skeptical of the efficacy of The Minimum Wage Act because if minimum wage increases, I think the price of everything else will increase. I believe that I can neither influence political change nor change my circumstances for the better. I have tried to participate in the government here, but there are so many fees and forms to fill out for which I have neither the time nor the money. As a Cambodian immigrant who escaped his homeland due to a civil war, all I can do is go with the flow here and try to live from one day to the next.

As a store manager, i’m totally in favor of raising the minimum wage. I fight tooth and nail to pay my employees extra even when it goes against my own profit. Why? Because, I believe it really does allow me to get much more out of them. To me, happy workers mean more reliable/responsible workers. Besides, I’d feel terrible if we were all doing the same work, except I get paid more.

I’m already making slightly above minimum wage, but I think an increase would still be great. I really enjoy my job here with GameStop, and am now much happier than when I worked at McDonalds. It’s ridiculous how low fast food restaurants pay considering how stressful the job can get, and really, a 10 cent pay raise for additional responsibilities (increased chances to get fired) is just rough. Anyway, I’m saving up to attend game design school, but hope to continue working at this specific GameStop for quite a while, since the community here is wonderful.

Through the Agora video project, many people have spoken. The project website will be open to additional submission of stories from Lynn residents for the next few weeks. “We are going to bring these voices of residents to Congress,” said Elsa Sze, Founder of Agora.“We want to get politicians who represent residents of Lynn to respond to these amazing stories of the people,” Elsa continued, “that’s what a real democracy should look like. And we hope more Lynn residents will share their own stories about minimum wage.”

Check out more local stories at minwage.theagora.co, or stay updated by following us on www.facebook.com/disruptpolitics.If you're interested in reading more perspectives