An all too rare win for workers

One of my favorite Tom Petty songs reminds me that "even the losers get lucky sometimes." I don't really think of the good guys of the world as losers, but I think you'd be in serious denial not to admit that the deck is stacked against them. So it was a pleasant surprise for me to learn today that fast food workers in New York state actually seem on the verge of winning a three year long campaign to raise the minimum wage to $15 per hour, an increase of 70 percent above the state minimum of $8.75.

I didn't see that coming. At best, I thought the $15 campaign might lead to a smaller state increase. But then what do I know?

I can already hear the weeping and gnashing of teeth by low wage employers. Ruling class apologists are generally one trick ponies, the trick being trying to convince the public that any steps intended to help working or poor people would actually hurt them. The corollary of this is that anything that really sticks it to them is actually good for them. As if they gave a **** (fill in the blank as you choose) about working or poor people to start with.

All I can say to that line of thinking is "we'll take that chance."