u
nes
r
a si lance. Erner on's bill
ould keep the state in line
with changes in the federal
r te until April 1, 1991 when
• the minimum 'wage increase
from $3.80 an hour to $4.25 an
bour.
But unlike legislation
enacted by Congress,
Emerson's bill ould extend
increase in the minimum
wage until 1993 and prohibit
employers from using a sub
minimum wage for wor ers in
SI G-Michigan' busi
aDd labor leaders say they
eire at odds ith a Ho e bill
at call for an increase in the
minimum wage.
The measure sponsored by
tate Rep. Robert Emerson, D
Flint, would help bring the
minimum a into line with
co t of living incre nd i
de igned to. decrease a
person's dependence on public
"
'a
yo
•
I
,
Equal schoo; im/?ossible
with present funding plan
8y Allison Jo es
C orresponde nI
MUSKEGON-Despite media
attempts to pin guilt for al1
ocietal ill on the Blac fami
ly the state's policie create
unequal chools and di tribu
lion of social service lc ding
to a multitude of problems, ac
cording to a Univesity 0
Michigan study
The Reagan and Blanchard
years have proven unkind to
the state's poore t children in
particular and thing will not
get any better in the immediate
future, according to the report.
Nearly a quarter of
Michigan's children arc poor
and child poverty in the tate
increased by 71 percent between
1979 and 1987, according to the
study. "And Michigan's poor
children are two and one-half
times more likely to die than its
non-poor children."
The report, "Michigan's
Well of Inequity," was prepared
by Prof. Ira M Schwartz and
researchers Joan M. Abbey and
Deborah A Willis of the U- M
School of Social Work's Center
for the Study of Youth Policy.
The study results were
presented May 11, at a state con
ference of social workers in
Muskegon. .
o
po
training.
The bill is currently in the
Senate Human Resource and
Senior Citizen committee.
Richard Studley, vice pre i
dent of government relations
for the MiChigan State Cham-
ber of Commerce, aid
Emerson' bill would be bad
for smaJl busine .
"THE EMERSO BILL
would cost them (smaJl busi
nesses) thousands of dollars a
I
The U-M researchers found
that consumer protection in
Michigan is declining, ccess to
social service is becoming
more limited and human er
vices are DO distributed evenly
througbou the tate.· The situa-
month in additional payroll
costs because it would go far
beyond the minimum wage in
the federal law," Studley said.
"What Michigan job providers
need and want is the flexibility
to re ard good employees and
the discretion to pay
employee with different
level of eniorit different
wages."
Dara Gishler, marketing
manager of the Three Riv rs
Area Chamber of Commerce,
tion is no improving, and is
likely to deteriorate further.:
said Schwartz, Abbey and Wil
lis.
Poor children in the s e also
suffer from the state' system of
C tin' d on P 13
'hou iog. emergency .helter,
mental health. child welfare, or
juvenile justice progra .
Approxima I.!. 63 percent
of II youth rved by juvenile
ju tice, child welfare, mental
health, health, and ubstance
buse programs combined are
African-American. About 40
percent ale Whl •
bill
id that although its chamber
ha not taken a po ilion on the .
Emerson bill, payroll co are
important to the operation of a
smaJJ b ine .
florence Farr, a member of
Local 24 of the Hotel
Employee and Restaurant
Employee Union in Detroit',
id the Emerson bill doesn't
go far enough in helping poor
worker to make a livable
wage.
10