Part 1: MLA Citation

Barron, James. “Time to Raise New York City’s Trailing Minimum Wage?” The New York Times, The New York Times, 16 Nov. 2022, https://www.nytimes.com/2022/11/16/nyregion/time-to-raise-new-york-citys-trailing-minimum-wage.html. 

Part 2: Summary

In the news article, “Time to Raise New York City’s Trailing Minimum Wage?” James Barron tells us New York’s 15 dollar minimum wage is no longer enough to keep up with the raising prices of inflation. Barron states that the average minimum wage worker would have to work 111 hours in order to afford even a one bedroom apartment. Barron goes on to say, “Republicans in the state legislature, supported by business groups, balked at any mechanism to take the minimum wage higher than $15.” Barron also interviewed Alexchayanne Diaz-Larui, a partime chipotle worker, who believes that the minimum wage should be raised to at least 20 dollars an hour after receiving a pay raise of 25 cents. James ends off the article talking about the plans of state senator Jessica Ramos to reintroduce a bill that would raise the minimum wage to 21.25 an hour by 2026. Ramos however, was unsure if  governor Kathy Hochul would support the plans.

Part 3: Reflection

I have learned from this article how many hours you would actually have to work in order to afford basic necessities like food and housing living on minimum wage. If I could ask a question to the author I would want to know why republicans are so against the idea of raising the minimum wage from 15 dollars? Also why isn’t the minimum wage able to raise with inflation and the cost of living? Taking into account the information given in this article and comparing it to personal experiences, I believe there should be no question on whether the minimum wage should be raised. Having worked a minimum wage job I can say that you are barely able to afford anything you need to live on your own, especially as a part time worker. As for the people who aren’t able to go to college and have no choice but to work a minimum wage job, like my highschool friend Alex, moving out isn’t even an option unless you work every waking moment.

Part 4: Rhetorical Analysis 

The author James Barron is a metro reporter for the New York Times as well as a columnist that writes for New York Today Newsletter. He wrote the minute by minute stories of the 9/11 attacks in 2001 for the New York Times website. The primary audience of this article is the general public with the main purpose of the article being to spread the information of what is happening with wages in New York. Barron uses the rhetorical appeal of Ethos throughout his writing with people like Patrick Mcgeehan, another New York Times Writer and State senator Jessica Ramos to build credibility. He also uses a minimum wage worker, Alexchayanne Diaz-Lauri to give an idea of what minimum wage workers think on the topic. Barron also uses logos in his writing giving actual numbers, surveys and interviews that add to his writing. “Minimum-wage earners would have to work a total of 111 hours to afford the monthly rent on a one-bedroom apartment, according to a survey released last month by United Way of the National Capital Area.” This article was published November 2022, making it current information.

Part 5: Notable Quotables

“ Minimum-wage earners would have to work a total of 111 hours to afford the monthly rent on a one-bedroom apartment, according to a survey released last month by United Way of the National Capital Area. That’s two weeks and almost four days — more than half a month — at 40 hours a week, well above the standard yardstick for how much someone should spend on housing.”  (Par 1)

“Back in 2016, New York became one of the first states to put its minimum wage on a path to $15 an hour. It set a schedule of annual increases that brought New York City’s minimum wage for most workers to $15 at the end of 2018. But that’s as far as the state law went, so it’s still at $15. Meanwhile, other cities that indexed their minimum wages to account for inflation have gone past $15. In January, Seattle’s will go up to $18.69 and Denver’s will rise to $17.29.” (Par 2)

“Republicans in the state legislature, supported by business groups, balked at any mechanism to take the minimum wage higher than $15. If it had been set to rise along with the cost of living, as it is in some other states and cities, lawmakers in Albany might never have had to deal with the issue again.” (Par 4)