title:  Republican Governor Is Letting Employers Ignore Minimum Wage Increase Passed By Voters
text: If this becomes a Republican strategy across the country, the American people will suffer greatly.Maine voters approved state minimum wage increase to $9 an hour earlier this year by a 10 point margin. That s means the state government must honor the will of the people and punish any employer that doesn t comply with the law.But Governor Paul LePage is opening the door for employers to openly ignore and defy the law, which sets a dangerous precedent that Republicans will likely employ around the nation in order to get around the minimum wage laws they hate.The strategy is simple, just don t enforce the law and let employers treat employees like slaves.And that s what LePage is toying with as he tests his strategy out for the next month.According to an announcement by the Tea Party governor,From Jan. 7, 2017, when the new minimum wage law is scheduled to go into effect, and until Jan. 31, 2017, the department will not bring enforcement actions against any employer who fails to comply with the change in the tip credit or the minimum salary requirement for overtime-exempt workers. Employers are expected to follow the law and pay the minimum hourly wage of $9.In short, when the law takes effect on January 7th, employers can ignore it at least until January 31st. That is, unless LePage decides to extend the length of the time-period, which he could do since he s an asshole.And this could end up becoming a strategy used by other Republicans in other states and even at the federal level since Donald Trump and the GOP control the government, including the Justice Department and the Labor Department.Mainers for Fair Wages campaign manager Amy Halsted blasted LePage for defying the voters and every hardworking person who desperately needs the wage increase. Governor LePage has now gone beyond ignoring the will of Maine voters and is flat-out encouraging employers to commit wage theft,  she said.  Refusing to enforce the minimum wage law, and especially the increase in the base wage for tipped workers from $3.75 to $5 an hour, is a slap in the face to tens of thousands of Mainers who are working hard and too often struggling to afford heat, food and medicine. But LePage doesn t care. In fact, he accused supporters of the minimum wage increase of  attempted murder  and said they should be put in prison. To me, when you go out and kill somebody, you go to jail,  he said.  Well, this is attempted murder in my mind because it is pushing people to the brink of survival. You know what really pushes people to the brink of survival? Not paying them enough to provide themselves with basic human needs like food, clothes, healthcare, and shelter. If anyone should be behind bars it s politicians like LePage and the greedy rich people who oppose raising the minimum wage.At some point, you can only trod over the masses for so long before they snap. Anger and desperation will boil over and the bottom line is that the working poor outnumber the wealthy few so they would be wise to take care of the people who work long hours for far less pay to help make them rich.Featured Image: Flickr