Bush Says 35 Senators Will Back Him if He Vetoes Wage Increase

Escalating a confrontation with congressional Democrats, President Bush announced Tuesday that 35 Republican senators--enough to sustain a presidential veto--have pledged to support his efforts to kill any increase in the minimum wage beyond $4.25 an hour.

Democrats, in response, offered some concessions but said they plan to press ahead today with House consideration of a bill that would raise the wage floor considerably more than Bush has said he will approve.

The minimum wage has been frozen at $3.35 an hour since 1981. Democrats had planned to push for an increase to $4.65 an hour by 1992 but Tuesday agreed to scale back the increase slightly, to $4.55 in 1992. In addition, they agreed to accept a modified version of the “training wage” that Bush has sought, under which companies could pay workers less than the minimum for an initial period.

Labor Leaders Opposed

Bush has sought a six-month training wage. Under the new Democratic plan, the training wage would last 60 days. Labor leaders have argued that a training wage would be abused, asserting that most low-wage jobs do not require extensive training and that companies would simply fire workers as soon as the training period expired.

The Democratic concessions, which will be offered when the bill reaches the House floor today, would not meet the terms Bush and the Republican senators have set as their bottom line. “In an unusual move, we made our best offer first,” Bush says. Any raise greater than $4.25 an hour would be inflationary, he insisted.

Despite the tough rhetoric, however, Democratic and Republican leaders agree that the minimum wage should--and almost certainly will--be increased this year. Bush pledged during his presidential campaign to support an increase.

The current skirmishing is aimed mainly at the Senate, where a compromise between the Democratic position and the Administration’s is expected later this spring. Democratic leaders hope to strengthen their hand in those negotiations by toting up a large majority in the House vote. Bush hopes to strengthen his by proving that he has the votes to make his veto threat real.

Little Impact Foreseen

Most economists say changes in the minimum wage are not likely to have much impact either on the economy or the rate of poverty, because relatively few workers are now paid the minimum. Shortages of labor have led even traditional low-wage industries such as fast-food restaurants and hotels to pay considerably more than the minimum in most parts of the country.