“I just want what is fair for everybody…”
If I’ve
heard that line once, I’ve heard it hundreds of times on those occasions when I
end up discussing business, economic, and public policy issues with members of
the clergy. With the uptick in minimum wage worker strikes over the past few
months (we saw another “round” of them at Wal-Mart stores this past week), I’ve had these conversations quite frequently.
What is
striking to me is that the starting point for many of these Pastors, Priests
and Rabbi’s is to say that they are standing up for “workers’ rights.” But often when I ask them the most basic
questions about business and economic matters – “why do some jobs pay better
than others?” “What wages and salaries are fair for business owners?” “How are
jobs created?” – the answer I get is “I don’t know much about economics…I just
want what is fair..”
Karl Marx
would certainly appreciate this stance on labor relations – it presumes the
absolute best about workers, and the absolute worst about business owners, no
matter how virtuously or how poorly either party behaves. But Marxism aside, there are several good
reasons why the faith leaders’ stance on labor and work is severely misguided.
It
ignores a major player in the labor market - The protests and demonstrations centered
on the plight of employees who work for a minimum wage all seem to conveniently
ignore another important party in the labor market – employers. Gathering
people to “rage” against business owners is consistent with the teachings of
Karl Marx, but is it constructive, and does it fit with the faith leaders’
professed beliefs?
Presumably
many of the faith leaders crying out for
“worker justice” also provide pastoral counseling services as part of their
professional and ministerial duties. But would any good clergyman attempt to do
marital counseling with only one spouse in the room? Probably not. And while
the employer-employee relationship is not a marriage, it is nonetheless a relationship – so why are religious
leaders championing the needs and interests of one party while not even
considering the needs and interests of the other?
If the faith
leaders involved in this activity actually cared for everybody involved in the
labor dispute – and cared enough to actually listen to the local small business
owners in their communities – they might actually learn why it is that some jobs
are regarded as “entry level” and therefore don’t pay very well. It is sad to
see clergymen, purporting to uphold the “dignity of the worker,” nonetheless acting
as though business owners themselves are something less than a “worker,” and
thus seeking to demonize them.
It
ignores another important player in the labor market - With all the attention showered upon the restaurant and
retail workers who walk off the job so they can go chant, walk a picket line,
and talk to news reporters, an important fact gets lost in the milieu: an
overwhelming majority of workers earning minimum wage at restaurants and big
box stores are – thankfully – NOT walking off the job. On the contrary, most of
them are diligently performing the tasks assigned to them in the job they
agreed to accept, and are perhaps focusing their energies on advancing within
their existing company or eventually finding a better job.
Coddling
disgruntled workers who clock-in at their job and then walk off the work site
is like an elementary school teacher focusing all attention on the few kids
that are misbehaving and ignoring the students who are performing well. And no
business management strategist would advise employers to focus on problem
behavior while ignoring productive employees. When faith leaders bestow honor
to a worker who seeks to undermine their employer, they make a mockery of the
majority of workers who fulfill their responsibilities and play by the rules.
It
undermines more skilled workers – As well intentioned as the faith
leaders’ efforts might be as they try to exhibit empathy for low-skilled, low
wage earning workers, they are slapping many skilled workers in the face. It’s
as if members of the clergy have no comprehension of the struggle many
Americans willingly face in order to get themselves educated, to develop new
skill sets, and to remain viable in the marketplace.
The minimum
wage debate strikes to the heart of this struggle. As they stand with striking
fast food workers who demand a fifteen dollar an hour wage, many faith leaders
appear clueless about how many other kinds of jobs in our economy require
education, degrees, and certifications, yet don’t pay much more than fifteen
dollars an hour.
Take “I.T.”
technicians, dental assistants, teacher’s aids and medical assistants as
examples. People who work in these fields usually have to take courses, pass
tests, and acquire certificates and licensures in order to qualify for a job in
their field, and they often spend hundreds if not thousands of their own
dollars to get appropriately trained. Yet many of them earn wages in the $10 to
$25 an hour range – in some cases not much more than what disgruntled fast food
workers are demanding.
When faith
leaders argue that workers with low skill levels are deserving of the same or
nearly the same wages as workers who have sought to develop their skills, they
undermine people who have disciplined themselves and have pursued the difficult
task of self-development. It is saddening to see faith leaders ignore this.
It fails
to address the real problem – Unless you’ve been living under a rock
for the past couple of years, you’ve probably heard about the tremendous
economic success of specific regions around the U.S. Take for example, North
Dakota. This little state is in the midst of a big economic boom that has
produced low un-employment and wages for many low skill workers that are well
over the mandated minimum wage.
That’s
because the people of North Dakota have wisely chosen to utilize their natural
resources – oil in particular – and to sell that resource around the world. The
oil-based energy industry is creating genuinely new wealth in that state, which
has in turn elevated wages in nearly every sector of the economy (even at
Wal-mart!).
The problem
of low wages will not be solved by merely seeking to re-distribute increasing
portions of wealth out of the hands of the few and into the hands of the chosen
– as the demand for a higher minimum wage does. Rather, the problem will only
be addressed when Americans begin to understand the key ingredients that
required in an economy that creates wealth and prosperity for all.
Will
America’s faith leaders begin to learn what those ingredients are? Or will they
simply continue to pursue some arbitrary understanding of “fairness” while not
understanding the slightest thing about economics?
Comments are invited!
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