Protests for a $15 hourly minimum wage, organized by the Service Employees International Union, are taking place across the country Thursday. The SEIU claims the protests are happening in 190 cities, with workers walking off fast food, home care, and airport jobs to fight for union rights and a minimum wage hike. But the wide spread of wage levels in the cities with protests only shows why a one-size-fits-all federal minimum wage is not working.
Economically, the SEIU’s biggest mistake is fighting for the same wage across the nation. The median wage in the Orlando, Fla., metropolitan area is $14.13 an hour. The median wage in the Washington, D.C., metropolitan area is 73 percent greater at $24.50 an hour. The SEIU has organized protests in both cities to fight for a $15 hourly minimum wage. But the wide disparity in wage levels means that forcing both cities to live under the same minimum wage makes little sense.
In Washington, D.C., a $15 minimum wage may not significantly affect the economy, because such a huge percentage of workers live above that wage. But in Orlando, a $15 minimum wage would directly affect the majority of them, and hurt many who may find themselves unemployed, replaced by a machine, or with fewer hours on their work schedule.
Workers in Knoxville, Tenn., also participated in SEIU protests Thursday, even though the median wage there is below $15 an hour. Whether or not everyone who earns under $15 would be hurt by a $15 hourly minimum wage, more than half of the working populations in Orlando and Knoxville would be affected.
The United States government was designed to allow for governance at the state and local levels with good reason. It is helpful that the fifty states and local governments get to try their own policies and share information on effectiveness.
Experimentation aside, economic policies that work in Los Alamos County, N.M., are different than the policies that work in Brownsville, Texas. These two areas show the extremes of median incomes in the U.S.: $10.81 an hour in Brownsville compared to $37.59 in Los Alamos County. Politically, policies that are acceptable in Hawaii will be very different than what is acceptable in Utah. In Hawaii, 71 percent of the population voted for President Obama in 2012, compared to 25 percent in Utah.
Twenty-three states and the District of Columbia have taken it upon themselves to set their own minimum wages above the federally-mandated $7.25 an hour. Just eight states have minimum wages below the federal minimum wage, but it is possible these states would alter their laws in the absence of a federal law.
With the third-highest population in the world, the U.S. is incredibly diverse economically and politically. There are more than 156 million Americans in the labor force, and every individual has a different set of skills, living costs, and political preferences. In light of how different American workers are, it does not make sense to have a one-size-fits-all federal minimum wage. State and local governments should be left alone to set minimum wages as they wish.
