Frustration grows in $15 minimum wage fight- National & International News – TUE 9Mar2021

Fight for $15 could play out in midterms. 320k undocumented Venezuelans get protected status in US. Calls for Irish unification growing. Myanmar protests continue despite violence.

NATIONAL NEWS

Minimum wage fight could play out in midterms

Despite the promise of new $1400 checks, minimum wage workers across the country are frustrated at Democrats’ failure to pass a minimum wage increase in the new stimulus bill. 

The prospects of passing such a wage through Congress dimmed considerably last week. The Senate parliamentarian ruled a wage hike can’t be passed through reconciliation. This means at least 10 Senate Republicans would have to vote in favor. And the Democrats can’t even seem to get all their own Senators on board. Kyrsten Sinema (AZ) and Joe Manchin (WV) both oppose even a gradual rise to $15/hr.

Sinema, Manchin and some Republicans have argued for a lower or more gradual rise in minimum wage, perhaps to $10 or $12 instead of $15. But Ben Zipperer of the Economic Policy Institute says even $15 an hour is low compared to the cost of living in most areas. Zipperer says, “In 2021, virtually anywhere in the country, a single adult will need to be working at least full time and earn at least $16 an hour in order to meet their family budget”. 

Some states have already increased their in-state minimum wage above the federal minimum, but 21 states have not. In some of those 21 states, many of them swing states, Biden’s promise to raise the federal minimum wage to $15 generated enthusiasm among voters that proved decisive for Democrats in 2020. In the 2022 midterms, several key Senate races will play out in low-wage states. 

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320,000 undocumented Venezuelans get protected status

Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas has granted Temporary Protected Status to an estimated 320,000 Venezuelans who are in the US illegally. The move by the Biden administration continues Trump policy of more lenient immigration policies for Venezuelans fleeing economic and political turmoil. Two weeks ago, Colombia, a neighboring country, granted full protected status to Venezuelan migrants.

The declaration signals that the Biden administration plans to continue Trump’s pressure campaign to force Venezuela’s democratically-elected leader Nicolas Maduro to resign.

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INTERNATIONAL NEWS

Brexit woes spur calls for Irish reunification

In the 2016 Brexit referendum, the people of Northern Ireland, voted to remain part of the European Union. Like Scotland and Wales, the UK territory is now facing immense economic losses from a European divorce it didn’t support. Only a few years ago, only a small but vocal fringe in Northern Ireland supported unification with Ireland, which remains part of the EU. Demographic shifts and Brexit-related issues, including contentious border issues with the EU, has increased enthusiasm for reunification.

A recent survey found that a majority of Northern Ireland’s population supported holding a unification referendum within the next five years. Currently, 47% favor remaining part of the UK, 42% support a united Ireland. Among participants under 45, reunification led by 47% to 46%. Politicians in Dublin, Belfast and Ireland suspect that support for reunification will only continue to grow in the coming years.

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Myanmar protests continue despite violence

Last night, police in Yangon trapped about 200 anti-coup protesters in a four-street area. Local residents in the area took many of the protesters in and hid them as the police combed the streets. Most finally managed to escape after police left the area, but police rounded up at least 40 who couldn’t find shelter. Recent unexplained deaths of protesters in police custody have raised concerns and fears among protesters and the international community. Some have accused the police of torturing and killing detainees.

At least 54 protesters have died so far since the Feb. 1 coup. The aggressive and lethal response by the police seems to only have intensified opposition to the country’s military junta. Protesters have altered their tactics to either avoid police confrontation or make it more difficult to catch them.

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