QUESTION 6: MINIMUM WAGE

Thursday, Oct. 14, 2004 | 1:20 a.m.

The minimum wage of $5.15 an hour in Nevada hasn't been raised since 1997, and organized labor says it's time to give more than 51,000 workers a pay increase.

Voters are being asked to approve a constitutional amendment to raise the minimum wage to $6.15 an hour for employers who do not make health insurance available to workers and their dependents. The health insurance premiums must not exceed 10 percent of the worker's gross taxable income.

The amendment would also provide for increases up to 3 percent per year based on the consumer price index.

Danny Thompson, executive director of the Nevada AFL-CIO, which backs the initiative, said nearly 60 percent of those who earn a minimum wage are women and 25 percent of those are single mothers, many of whom work full time.

These minimum-wage workers are "scattered through the economy" in such businesses as day care, senior-citizen homes, long-term care homes and in retail, Thompson said.

Ray Bacon, Nevada Manufacturers Association director, counters that workers should be paid what they're worth. Those who earn minimum wage are usually teenagers or those with no skills.

These people, if they have any talent, usually progress up the salary ladder, Bacon said.

Bacon said members of unions, which are behind the minimum wage, are all earning far above that level. But he said some union contracts are tied to the minimum wage. For instance, a union contract may say that the pay for an employee is two or three times the minimum wage.

"If this is such a good thing, then the minimum wage should be $20 an hour," he said.

Proponents said the constitutional change would have a spillover effect. An estimated 50,000 workers earn within $1 of the minimum wage, and their pay also could be boosted. That means about 101,000 people could get raises or about 10 percent of the workforce.

Opponents say unskilled workers or those with little income would be hurt the most. These people are paid minimum wage while they are learning a new job skill and then can get promotions. They argue that employers would be hiring fewer of these workers.

Thompson argued that increasing wages would allow these low-income families to afford housing, health care, food and child care. They would be less dependent on such things as food stamps and other public programs, he said.