Lisa McCormick says it's time to pay all workers a living wage

Lisa McCormick, a progressive activist and former candidate for US Senate in New Jersey, has made a strong statement on workers' rights, declaring that "No company should be allowed to exist in this country—or any country that trades with the USA— if it does not pay its employees a living wage."

She said the idea is not new, citing President Franklin Roosevelt's 1933 speech on the National Industrial Recovery Act, in which he said, "It seems to me to be equally plain that no business which depends for existence on paying less than living wages to its workers has any right to continue in this country."

McCormick, who has been a vocal advocate for economic justice and equality, argued that the current federal minimum wage of $7.25 per hour is grossly inadequate and leaves millions of workers struggling to make ends meet as low-paid jobs are increasing at a pace three times that of overall growth.

"We cannot continue to allow multinational corporations to exploit workers both here and abroad, while reaping record profits and avoiding their fair share of taxes," McCormick said. "It's time to level the playing field and demand that every company that wants to do business in the United States pays its workers a living wage."

A living wage, McCormick explained, is a wage that is high enough to cover the basic necessities of life, including food, housing, healthcare, and education. She called on Congress to pass legislation that would set a national living wage standard and make it mandatory for all companies to comply.

With the founding of the American Federation of Labor (AFL) in 1886, the labor movement promoted the idea of a general “living wage” which would enable all workers to support a family, participate in public life, and maintain an “American standard of living.”

"By guaranteeing a living wage, we can lift millions of workers out of poverty, reduce income inequality, and create a more just and equitable society," McCormick said. "This is not just a moral imperative, but an economic one, as workers who are paid a living wage are more productive, healthier, and more likely to spend money in their local communities."

McCormick has previously called on lawmakers to "reverse Reaganomics" to curb the growing power and significance of the financial sector, which has created an increasingly exploitative economic atmosphere framed by the political philosophy of laissez-faire governance justified by those failed trickle-down economic policies.

"Every time an increase in minimum wage becomes part of the national political debate, we hear dire warnings abound about the imminent death of business," McCormick said. "But, to paraphrase Mark Twain’s famous quip, the report of the death of business is greatly exaggerated. Minimum wage hikes have not caused substantial business failures, according to numerous studies. The facts contradict this unfounded rhetoric."

Economic research shows that higher wages aid in job creation and helps small business.

"Poverty and poor health are connected problems," McCormick said. "Political, social, and economic injustices contribute to poor health outcomes. Poverty causes and results from poor health, trapping families in a cycle. Even a $15 minimum wage won't eradicate poverty, particularly for women who make up 60 percent of low-wage earners. Closing the wage gender gap would benefit families."

McCormick's statement has been met with support from labor unions, worker advocacy groups, and progressive activists across the country.

McCormick said that even Scottish economist Adam Smith was a proponent of living wages for labor for both reasons of growth and equity. One Fair Wage is a national coalition, campaign, and organization seeking to end all subminimum wages in the United States.

"This is not complicated," said Professor Robert Reich, a former US Secretary of Labor. "If you can’t afford to pay your employees a living wage, you do not have a viable business model."

"There is nobody in this country who got rich on his own — nobody. You built a factory out there? Good for you. But I want to be clear. You moved your goods to market on the roads the rest of us paid for. You hired workers the rest of us paid to educate. You were safe in your factory because of police-forces and fire-forces that the rest of us paid for. You didn’t have to worry that marauding bands would come and seize everything at your factory — and hire someone to protect against this — because of the work the rest of us did," said Senator Elizabeth Warren. "Now look, you built a factory and it turned into something terrific, or a great idea. God bless — keep a big hunk of it. But part of the underlying social contract is, you take a hunk of that and pay forward for the next kid who comes along."

In his annual letter to shareholders, Jamie Dimon, CEO of JPMorgan Chase & Co., called for a raise in the minimum wage, making mortgages more affordable and helping lower-income workers learn new skills that can put them into higher-wage jobs.

Many are calling on lawmakers to take action to address the growing problem of income inequality and low-wage work, and to ensure that all workers are able to live with dignity and security. McCormick has worked to hold Democrats accountable for policy failures as much as she has railed against Republicans for putting profiteers and polluters over people.