Dennis Tuuri

Full PEAPAC Analysis

PEAPAC Recommendation: The minimum wage is an inappropriate intrusion into the market place by an increasingly intrusive civil government. It restricts the freedom of both worker and employer to enter into wage negotiations. It has highly negative consequences, particularly for teens. We strongly urge a No vote.

PEAPAC Commentary: According to Romans 13 and 1 Peter 2, the civil magistrate’s job is to punish criminals, not to set wages. God has given us the freedom of the marketplace to determine these matters. The parable of the workers in the vineyard asserts the right of the owner to pay widely differing wages. He said “Don’t I have the right to do what I want with my own money?” (Matthew 20:14) The State of Oregon would answer, “No, you don’t. We’ll tell you what your employees must be paid.” Also implicit in this parable is the right of the worker to enter into negotiations to set his wage, even if it is quite low. This Measure is in violation of Scriptural teaching and its result is the loss of freedom for both employer and employee.

This Measure purports to help workers, but it actually hurts them, in at least two ways. First, more and more young people would likely face unemployment if Measure 25 passes. While it would mandate pay, it would not mandate any increased productivity on the part of workers. Employers either have to raise prices or lay workers off as wages increase without resultant productivity increases. At least some would do the latter. Second, this Measure would remove a valuable training ground for newcomers to the job market, who are just starting to learn vocational skills and a work ethic. In days gone by, young teens would learn job skills and a proper work ethic by doing simple tasks for lesser wages. If the private businessman can no longer pay a young teen lower wages for such work, these jobs would go away, and along with them, the training and experience opportunities they once provided. If a law could be passed increasing productivity, maybe we could look at passing one increasing wages. But the State is not God, even though it sometimes thinks it is. It cannot make better workers by legislation. We strongly recommend a NO vote.