Wednesday, September 27, 2006

Corporate success hasn’t benefited lowest-paid

By Alan Johnson

Columbus Dispatch

 

Worker productivity, corporate profits and executive wages have risen in recent years, but Ohio’s lowest-paid workers haven’t shared the benefits.

That is the conclusion of a study released yesterday by the Center for American Progress and Policy Matters Ohio, a nonpartisan but union-affiliated policy group.

The study said Ohio worker productivity increased 2.1 percent annually from 2000 through 2005, but average weekly wages, adjusted for inflation, were up 0.2 percent.

Meanwhile, executive pay grew 3.4 percent on average and U.S. corporate profits jumped 50 percent in the same period, researchers said.

The study was timed to support Ohio’s proposed constitutional amendment to raise the state minimum wage from $5.15 per hour to $6.85.

The organizations said it would impact 700,000 Ohioans.

Opponents charge that the issue would backfire by robbing Ohio of thousands of jobs as employers cut back to meet higher payroll demands.

The amendment will be State Issue 2 on the Nov. 7 ballot. 

ajohnson@dispatch.com

 

 

Columbus Dispatch  9/27/2006

 

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Policy Matters Ohio is a non-profit policy research organization founded in January 2000 to broaden the debate about economic policy in Ohio. Our mission is to conduct high-quality research promoting decisions which benefit our whole community. Given the challenges of a rapidly-changing economic system, rising wage inequality, new issues in education and changes in the way work is organized, it is imperative that Ohio workers have a voice in the economic debate.

 

Policy Matters provides real-world analysis focused on issues that matter to low- and middle-income workers in Ohio. Our findings are accessible to the public, the media, and policy makers. We hope to strengthen democracy by providing Ohio's citizens with the essential tools to participate in the public discussion on the economy. We believe this will result in economic policies that better reflect the public interest.