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The Labor Standards Act Of 1938 ( Flsa )

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There have been similar proposals of this type of legislation throughout history. The first type of similar legislation passed was the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 (FLSA) which was signed by President Franklin D. Roosevelt (Grossman, 1978). This act applied to about one-fifth of the labor force but set a minimum wage to twenty-five cents an hour (Grossman, 1978). The minimum wage has increased many times since the initial passing of the FLSA. In 1949, “the minimum wage was raised from 40 cents an hour to 75 cents an hour for all workers and minimum wage coverage was expanded to include workers in the air transport industry” (U.S. Department of Labor, 2015, “Wage and Hour Division”). The federal minimum wage has been increased 22 …show more content…

Supporters There are two major players for this proposed legislation. One key player is the bill’s sponsor Al Green. Green supports this bill since he is the sponsor of it. Al is a Democrat who represents Texas. He is a member of the House of Representatives. He is a civil rights advocate. His personal goals are to advocate for those whose voices are not often heard (Al Green, 2015). Al Green is in favor of this bill. He argues that those currently making minimum wage are below the poverty threshold (Al Green, 2015). He also explains that 47 million Americans live in poverty (Al Green, 2015). Green explains that public assistance programs allocate $7 billion a year and 63% of recipients have a member working in the family (Al Green, 2015). He believes this bill would help improve the economy and provide better opportunities for Americans (Al Green, 2015). Green expresses that, ““The Original Living American Wage (LAW) Act should accelerate the growth of our economy and provide greater opportunity as well as prosperity for all Americans, not just the privileged few” (Green, 2015). Another key player that would support this legislation and has expressed a concern for this issue is Bernie Sanders. Bernie Sanders is a Democrat and is currently campaigning for President in the upcoming 2016 election. Bernie Sanders is very vocal about his support and

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