The Nation : McLaughlin Hits Minimum Wage Hike

Labor Secretary Ann Dore McLaughlin said the big increase in the minimum wage sought by Democrats could cost jobs and fuel inflation. McLaughlin, interviewed on NBC-TV’s “Today” show, defended Republican support for a sub-minimum “training” wage for teen-agers. Merely increasing the minimum wage does not address young workers’ need for better education and training, she said. “I think the idea of some kind of a training wage that might allow us to get, particularly our young people, into a job, learn about coming to work, coming back the next day and learning a little bit about what it takes to hold a job might be helpful,” she said. The minimum wage has been set at $3.35 an hour since 1981. Democrats are pushing bills that would raise it to $4.55 by 1991 in the Senate version or $5.05 by 1992 in the House version.