Living Wage

I would like to thank Theodore Williams and Michael Leum for painting in clear and stark terms the need for a “living wage” (Column Left, Aug. 4). It is very heartening to hear from businessmen who recognize the best way to make L.A. strong is to invest in their employees.

It is a disgrace and an abomination that nearly a fifth of full-time, full-year workers have incomes below the poverty line ($15,600 for a family of four) and that in a county where the average rent on a two-bedroom apartment is $855, a full-time, minimum wage earner makes only $8,800. It is my guess that the people who will most vociferously challenge this just move for a living wage are those who benefit most (monetarily) from keeping workers’ wages depressed. They will be fighting to keep their profit margins high at the expense of those who do the work.

Williams and Leum are correct; paying a living wage is good business because it is a very direct way of investing in our city and creating a stable work force.

MARY BRENT WEHRLI

Los Angeles