Sen. Bernie Sanders is not wasting any time in using his gavel as chairman of the Senate Budget Committee to push for progressive change.
On February 25, the Vermont independent used his newly acquired power to hold a hearing on wages in the U.S. to answer a “simple question.”
“Why should the taxpayers of our country, many of whom are struggling economically as a result of the pandemic, be subsidizing the starvation wages being paid at some of the largest and most profitable corporations in America?” Sanders asked, noting that the CEOs of McDonald’s and Walmart had not deigned to show up at the hearing.
The CEO of Costco, W. Craig Jelinek, did attend—taking the opportunity to announce his stores would raise the starting salary at the company to $16 an hour from $15 an hour.
“This isn’t altruism,” said Jelinek. “At Costco, we know that paying employees good wages and providing affordable benefits makes sense for our business and constitutes a significant competitive advantage for us.”
Working for change
Sanders has not made a secret of his desire to wield his position in the Budget Committee to the advantage of progressive policy. Along with his duties to work on legislation and confirmations as the Budget Committee chair, Sanders told the Washington Post in February, he will also hold hearings on income inequality and climate, and will use his power to shape and advocate for a huge infrastructure bill.
The senator’s devotion to the interests of the American working class are what drive him, he told the Post.
“They are living through an economic desperation the likes of which we have not seen since the Great Depression,” said Sanders. “So we are going to be a very active and aggressive Budget Committee, which is going to explore what’s going on with the working class and the middle class of this country and how we can successfully address the crises that they face.”
The wages hearing was a first step in that process. While the CEOs of Walmart and McDonald’s were no-shows, union activist and McDonald’s worker Terrence Wise did attend, putting the situation for the country’s working class in stark terms, recounting how he and his family were homeless and on government assistance after an eviction, circumstances that his low wage salary couldn’t improve.
“I work for McDonald’s—one of the richest companies in America,” said Wise. “This is what generational poverty looks like; this is what I am fighting to end.”
Messaging opportunity
As the Center for Popular Democracy co-Executive Director Ana Maria Archila told Blue Tent, Sanders is the best ally the left has in the Senate, and he’s expected to continue pushing for progressive change.
“We have high expectations for what he can do from that perch, and a lot of well-earned trust that he will use this powerful role to continue to advance the agenda that is so deeply associated with him and with the progressive wing of the party,” Archila said.
Part of that work involves strategically using moments like the wage hearing to get views seldom aired in Congress to the fore. Along with Wise, Sanders called Thea Lee, president of the Economic Policy Institute, to testify about the decades of intentional economic policy that has concentrated power and wealth in the hands of the rich and huge corporations.
“The result is a labor market where—contrary to neoliberal economic equilibrium models—actual wage levels for most workers reflect generations of accumulated systemic racism, sexism and occupational segregation; where the federal minimum wage is egregiously inadequate, leaving too many workers below a decent and adequate standard of living; where workers’ ability to join in a union and bargain collectively has been eroded; and where highly profitable corporations remunerate their executives lavishly, but choose to pay poverty wages to their front-line and production employees,” Lee said in prepared remarks.
Lee and EPI amplified that message on social media, using her remarks in a Twitter thread and drawing attention to her message. Wise’s remarks were similarly used by the SEIU and other groups on social media.
Wise’s central message, that a $15 minimum wage is necessary for the country’s recovery in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic and a “365-day stimulus package” because of community investment from workers with higher wages, ties into Sanders’s push for progressive policy.
It’s no mistake the Vermont senator is amplifying those voices. Sanders understands that congressional hearings can spotlight causes and provide a platform that advocates can use to make the case for change.
