美国小时工资战升温

    “劳动力的效率越来越高，”欧文斯说。“然而，企业一方面在享受由此带来的经济利益，一方面却没有把收益分配给从事这些工作的人们。”

    研究经济问题的经济政策研究所（Economic Policy Institute）表示，招聘兼职员工的公司增多了，他们付给兼职员工的时薪比全职员工要少好几美元。这个机构近日发布的调查结果显示，2006年到2012年，低薪员工收入的下降幅度高达5%。

    计划在本周发起罢工抗议的打工族要求把时薪提高到15美元。之所以提出这样的诉求，是因为雇主缩减工时，不断改变工作时间，同时还不提供医保、带薪病假、节假日等福利，这一切都使他们不可能过上体面的生活。此外，他们还在与一种理念做斗争，即：这种低端的工作是留给青少年和受教育程度较低的人做的。根据联邦劳工部的统计数据，工薪族的平均年龄是29岁，而且25%的工薪族接受过部分大学课程。

    提薪的斗争始于去年11月。当时，沃尔玛要求一部分员工感恩节期间搞大促销，引发了员工零星的抗议活动。不久之后，纽约市大约30家快餐店的200名员工在工会、民间团体、神职人员的支持下也开展了罢工。

    与此同时，零售商和连锁饭店在工资问题上不肯松口。麦当劳日前为员工推出了一个个人预算网站。科尔伯特批评该网站只计算了每个月20美元的医保费，而且最初默认供暖费用为零。（后来麦当劳将供暖费用的预算设定成了每个月50美元。）

    麦当劳的CEO唐•汤普森一再公开鼓吹他的自我奋斗理论。他在上周接受彭博电视记者采访时表示，麦当劳给员工“提供了一个机会，好让他们在这个体制中谋求高升，赢得越来越多的财富”。

    这一点可能只适用于餐饮业的高管。根据经济政策研究所的统计数据，餐饮业高管平均年薪高达1,190万美元，是普通工薪族的778倍。

    全国就业法律工程的一项研究表明，快餐业只有2%的职位是高管职位，剩下的绝大多数工作机会——即89%的岗位都是底层、非管理层的岗位。此外，只有极少数员工能提升地位，最终拥有一家特许经营餐厅。要做到这一点，净资产起码要达到100万美元。

    好市多（Costco）CEO克雷格•耶利内克是少数几个在薪水问题上与工薪族站在一边的高管。耶利内克支持《2013年最低工资法案》（Fair Minimum Wage Act of 2013）。这项法案一旦通过，联邦最低工资标准将提升至每小时10.10美元。“在我们企业，不管是哪个州的分公司，起薪都是每小时11.50美元。在这样的情况下，我们的间接成本还是能保持在很低的水平。”耶利内克在一份声明中表示。他认为，好的薪资待遇能最大程度地降低员工流动率，提高员工的效率、干劲和忠诚度。

    耶利内克得到了来自全国各地100多名经济学者的支持。这个月，他们发起了一项名为“经济学者支持美国实行10.50美元最低工资”的请愿活动。他们在结论中写道：“麦当劳只要把巨无霸的价格提高0.05美分，就能抵消提薪3.25美元带来的半数成本。”

    麻省理工学院（MIT）的保罗•奥斯特曼也在请愿书上签了字。他表示，美国“相比于其他四、五个发达国家而言，是一个低薪国家。我们要提升最低工资标准，要有更强势的工会，要让企业更注重长远利益、而不是短期需求。”

    美国劳工统计局表示，随着中层工作机会越来越少，美国未来十年增长最快的十大工种当中，有七个会是店员、家庭护理员这类低薪工种。

    More companies are hiring part-time workers at wages that average several dollars less than their full-time counterparts, according to the Economic Policy Institute, an economic research group. Its recent report found that low-wage worker income fell as much as 5% between 2006 and last year.

    Protesting workers this week will demand $15 an hour on grounds that cutbacks in hours, constantly changing schedules, and lack of benefits like health care, paid sick leave, and vacation make it impossible to have a decent standard of living. They are also battling the perception that such entry-level jobs are the preserve of teenagers and the poorly educated. Workers' average age, according to federal labor figures, is 29, and 25% of this group has completed some college courses.

    The drive to raise wages began last November with a scattered protest by Wal-Mart employeeswho were required to work during Thanksgiving Day blockbuster sales. Soon after that, 200 workers at some 30 New York fast-food outlets staged a walkout, supported by unions, civic groups, and clergy.

    Meanwhile, retailers and restaurant chains are standing firm on wages. McDonald's set up a personal budget website for employees. Colbert skewered the site for listing only $20 a month for health insurance and, initially, no amount for heating costs. (It has since budgeted $50 a month for heat.)

    McDonald's CEO Don Thompson publicly reiterated the bootstrap argument, noting in an interview with Bloomberg Television last week that the company provides "opportunities so that a person can rise through the system and gain greater and greater wealth."

    That may be the case for restaurant industry executives, who earn an average of $11.9 million yearly, 788 times the average worker, according to figures from the Economic Policy Institute.

    But only 2% of fast-food jobs are executive positions, a NELP study found. Instead, the vast majority, or 89%, are the lowest-level, non-managerial jobs, according to the study. The study also found that only a tiny number of workers move on to own a franchise, which typically requires at least $1 million in owner net worth.

    Costco's (COST) chief executive Craig Jelinek is one of the few executives who have sided with workers on this issue. Jelinek has endorsed the Fair Minimum Wage Act of 2013, which, if passed, would raise the federal wage floor to $10.10 an hour. "We pay a starting hourly wage of $11.50 in all states where we do business, and we are still able to keep our overhead costs low," Jelinek said in a statement. He noted that good pay minimizes employee turnover and shores up productivity, commitment, and loyalty.

    Jelinek is backed by a group of some 100 economists from across the country that issued a petition this month called "Economists in Support of a $10.50 U.S. Minimum Wage." McDonald's, the economists concluded, could offset half the cost of a $3.25 hourly wage hike by raising the price of each Big Mac by .05 cents.

    Paul Osterman of MIT, who signed the petition, notes that the U.S. is a "low wage country compared to four or five other developed economies. We need to increase the minimum wage, have stronger unions, and have the business community think more about its long-term than just its short-term needs."

    As middle-level jobs dwindle, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics says that seven of the 10 fastest growing positions in the coming decade will be low-wage jobs such as store clerks and home health aides.