Workers all across the country have started to speak out against their low-wages. Last year, during Black Friday, hundreds of Wal-Mart workers around the country walked out in protest over their poor working conditions and wages. This courageous act sparked several walk outs at various fast food chains in New York City. In Chicago there is a new “fight for 15” campaign which is demanding that the minimum wage be raised to 15 dollars an hour. It is extremely encouraging to see this new revival in class consciousness and worker awareness. The worker organized walkouts are taking place in the sectors of the labor force which have been said to be the hardest to actually organize. Workers at McDonalds, Wendy’s, Wal-Mart among other retail and fast food businesses are pushing for better benefits, better wages and the ability to unionize.

These mass worker protests come following a bold declaration by the President during the State of the Union to make the federal minimum wage 9 dollars an hour. However, as ambitious as this sounds, 9 dollars an hour still wouldn’t be enough to help families survive. Corporations despise the minimum wage because it cuts back on their already outrageous profits. As of 2012, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, 1.6 million hourly workers earned exactly 7.25—the current federal minimum wage. This averages out to about 15,000 dollars a year, well under the current poverty level. If the minimum wage were raised to 9 dollars an hour it would equate to about 18,000 dollars a year. President Obama wanted the minimum wage to be 9 dollars by 2015. However, if we view the projected poverty line for 2015 it will be 24,635. Ultimately, a 9 dollar minimum wage sounds ambitious, but still falls shorts of the basic needs for families of “low-wage” workers.

The minimum wage has been one of the toughest battles across the country for some time now. If minimum wage kept up with inflation over the past 40 years it would currently be at 10.69. Moreover, if the minimum wage kept up with worker productivity it would’ve reached 21.72 according to John Schmitt of the Center for Economic & Policy Research.

The main argument held by those on the Right is that raising the minimum wage will discourage job growth and lead to businesses firing workers. This is merely a fear tactic. Also, another common line is that low wage workers are largely employed by small businesses, which in affect would hamper their growth or even worse force them to close down shop. According to the National Employment Law Project, the majority of low-wage workers are not employed by small business, but rather large corporations with over 100 employees. Furthermore, 92 percent of these employers were profitable last year; 78 percent have been profitable the last 3 years and 75 percent have higher revenues than before the recession.

Corporations aren’t in to make the lives of their workers better. Their main goal is to record a profit. Corporations have down played their earnings in order to maintain the same narrative, “raise the minimum wage and we will have to lay off workers.” This is becoming an out dated fear tactic which only seems to affect those on the Right. The Bureau of Labor Statistics estimates that over the next decade 7 out of the top 10 growth jobs will be low-wage. This makes the struggle for just wages ever more important. Families won’t be able to survive as prices continue to increase and wages remain stagnant. If the Republicans get their way, the minimum wage will become even lower. Corporations always come out against a raise in the minimum wage under the disguise of what is best for their workers. However, workers across the country understand this rhetoric is simply a farce. Corporate profits are higher than they have ever been, it is time workers be justly compensated as well.