SUBMINIMUM WAGE

WHEREAS, the Reagan administration's policy of high interest rates has created an unacceptably high rate of unemployment; and

WHEREAS, in many areas of the country the rate of unemployment among 18 to 25 year olds exceeds 25 percent; and

WHEREAS, the rate of unemployment among minority youth exceeds 50 percent; and

WHEREAS, the Reagan administration's solution to these criminally high rates of unemployment is to create a subminimum wage:

RESOLVED, that the American Federation of Teachers shall vigorously oppose the concept of the subminimum wage and that it joins with other organizations, such as Frontlash, to condemn the destruction of the decades old concept of a minimum wage scale; and

RESOLVED, that AFT emphasizes that the subminimum wage will create a permanent class of underemployed youth with little chance of advancement into the mainstream of work life.