MSNBC "The Ed Show" - Transcript: Minimum Wages
Interview
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Joining us is Senator Amy Klobuchar. She`s head of the Joint Economic Committee of Congress, and co-sponsor of the Senate bill to raise the minimum wage. Stephanie Rawlings-Blake is, of course, the mayor of Baltimore, Maryland.
Thank you, ladies, for joining me.
I guess this issue amazes me all the time because of the number of people it affects.
Senator Klobuchar, talk about how it doesn`t just affect people at the very bottom, how it affects people a bit higher, and how it particularly affects people who work for tips, which is a lot of women, and generally women.
SEN. AMY KLOBUCHAR (D), MINNESOTA: Exactly, Chris. You know, this is a big deal for our whole economy, but particularly women. Two-thirds of minimum wage workers are women. Most of the people, the majority of the people who work in the service industry who make tips for a living are women.
And you have a situation, which as you pointed out, it doesn`t just affect minimum wage workers. If we can increase the minimum wage, which we haven`t done for years, this could mean at least conservative estimates over 16 million people will get a raise.
And when you`ve got a situation where it`s getting harder and harder to send your kids to college, or the waitress we had with us today from Texas who talked about the fact that she`s got to raise her 3-year-old kid on $2,000 to $3,000 a month, about the fact that she`s got to live on a $2.13 per hour minimum wage when some nights she gets a rare tip. Some nights are better. Some nights are bad. This is a big issue for our economy and it`s time to move ahead.
MATTHEWS: Where the hell are the labor unions? You know, back when we were growing up, I was growing up, I`m older than you, they used to have labor rallies. You actually come out for things like civil rights and they showed up in Washington by the hundreds of thousands.
We have a Right to Life rally. Good for them every year. I don`t see a rally for minimum wage.
Where the hell are the unions? Why aren`t they out there in the streets demanding a minimum wage increase?
You`re doing this. Where`s the noise level, Senator? I don`t see it. I don`t hear it.
KLOBUCHAR: Well, you know, Chris, I think that noise level is just starting. You see the president coming out --
(CROSSTALK)
MATTHEWS: When are we going to have the unions come to town and make some noise? When are they going to do it?
KLOBUCHAR: They make pretty noise in my state. And, in fact, Richard Trumka was coming. He got stopped by a snowstorm unfortunately. But he`s going to come again on minimum wage.
The unions are out there. This is a big issue to them. They get it.
But, mostly, we`ve got to move some of the Republicans on this.I would point out the last time we increased the minimum wage in this country was under a Republican president. It was under George Bush.
MATTHEWS: I know.
KLOBUCHAR: So, there`s no reason they can`t work with us to get this minimum wage increase. We`re going to start that noise and start pushing on this next week in the United States Senate on the floor, and you`ll see a vote.
MATTHEWS: Mayor, thank you for joining us. You know, I`m going back to my old saw here. Noise, the squeaky wheel gets the grease. Noise matters. I don`t hear the noise.
I know Senator Klobuchar and Senator Debbie Stabenow and other women in the Senate, yourself, you`re here tonight. But I`ll tell you, it`s numbers that matter. Number, numbers, numbers.
And I don`t see the roar in the streets for something that seems to me an easy one for Democrats, for progressives, for women, which is raise the minimum wage. Your thoughts?
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KLOBUCHAR: That`s why we`re on your show today.
MATTHEWS: OK. Where`s the heat?
KLOBUCHAR: We`re on your show today to make the case.
MATTHEWS: Senator, I don`t want to attack the ones who show up, but you`re showing up -- OK.
KLOBUCHAR: We`re going to be saying -- thank you.
MATTHEWS: Which unions are making the most noise? Who`s out there making the biggest case for minimum wage increase? Who? Give me some names.
KLOBUCHAR: The AFL-CIO --
RAWLINGS-BLAKE: AFSCME has been a big supporter.
KLOBUCHAR: SEIU --
(CROSSTALK)
MATTHEWS: Let me talk about this from a human term, first Senator Klobuchar. Who`s out there? I was stunning by this, restaurant workers, because they assume you get tips although you don`t always get tips. People get stiffed, of course, $2.13 an hour for a waitress, a wait person.
OK, that assumes I guess you make $5 in tips to get you up to the $7 level. So, when we go to a five guys or Burger King, I`ll start with the mayor on this, because you`re close to the people in the city there. Who is minimum wage in our face? Who do we see every day that`s working for minimum wage?
RAWLINGS-BLAKE: Oh my goodness, you have food workers, you have personal care workers. I mean, we heard testimony from a woman who works in home care taking care of the sick who had to choose between whether she was going to eat one day or her children were going to eat. These are people who are working hard.
The productivity of the American worker has gone up year after year after year. The thing that hasn`t caught up is the wages.
And we deserve better. We have to have a country where the American dream means something to everybody.
MATTHEWS: Thank you, Senator Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota, and Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake of Baltimore, Maryland.
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