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Labor Day workers lament unliveable minimum wage By DANI DODGE No matter how hard Marvin Boyce works, he feels like he's always falling behind. Even after six years as a Navy medic, the only jobs he can get in the Rogue Valley pay him barely above minimum wage. A 26-year-old salesman at Binyon's, Boyce is getting married in October, but he doesn't plan on having kids anytime soon. "Doing this job is enough for her and I because she has a good job," he said. "But with a job of this wage, I couldn't really support kids." In its annual Labor Day review, the nonprofit Oregon Center for Public Policy said the state's wages adjusted for inflation climbed gradually during the 1990s but have since fallen. The median hourly wage, adjusted for inflation, peaked in Oregon at $12.38 in 1999 before dropping to $12.21 in 2000. Oregon workers maintained their incomes despite declining wages by working more hours, the study said. The median family income in Oregon was $45,506 in 1999. When adjusted for inflation, 1989's median was just slightly less and 1979's was no different, according to the study. In 1999, the average per capita personal income was $24,004 in Jackson County, while the state average was $26,958 and Clackamas County in northern Oregon was $32,237, according to the state's employment department. Ashland officials tried to address the wage issue by passing a living wage ordinance last month. It mandates that companies contracting with the city must pay employees an employment package - wages and benefits - equaling $10.75 an hour. Many of those working this Labor Day, though, were like Boyce - hovering around the minimum wage of $6.50 per hour. Some had benefits, others didn't. They are all looking desperately for ways to break free of the wage stagnation that grips them, but many feel trapped. Nicole Bertik, a 24-year-old single mother of three, was doling out hot French fries and cold beers Monday afternoon at Lucky Dog Saloon in north Medford. "Making minimum wage just doesn't cut it," the Wimer resident lamented. "I can afford to come to work and that's about it, and with the cost of gas going up I can barely afford that." She's worked at a nursing home, in a concrete business and now tends bar because the tips help put clothes on her kids. Her folks babysit while she works, and she dreams of going back to school or moving to Montana, where she could afford a home. "You can get a four-bedroom log home there for $83,000," she said, her green eyes lighting up. "It's a lot cheaper there." James Stallsworth, a 30-year-old pump attendant earning minimum wage at the Bi-mor gas station in Central Point, is waiting for someone to retire. He wants to take over a better-paying job, like truck driving or management within the company. He's been manning the pumps for three years. "Everything keeps going up and we don't get no raises," he said. "And one person can't make it on $6.50 an hour. No way." So his wife manages a Subway sandwich shop and he checks his employer's job board every day for openings. Twenty-one-year-old Jennifer Young loves her job making and selling cookies at The Cookie Connection at the Rogue Valley Mall, but since she entered the job market she's seen most of her wage increases come from legislated jumps in the minimum wage. "It didn't really have an impact and people don't give additional raises, because the minimum wage goes up," the Grants Pass resident said. "You feel like you are getting gypped." But she's attending Rogue Community College and is looking forward to a career in dental hygienist. "They make $20 to $35 an hour," she said. "It's really good to get into, but (my current job) works well with my school schedule ... and we get to eat as many cookies and milk as we want while we are working." After six years in the Navy, Marvin Boyce got out in 1999 so he could move back to the Rogue Valley. But when he got here he realized his career options were limited to jobs that barely topped minimum wage. He's worked as a teacher's assistant, as a sales representative for a television service, and now at Binyon's, where he makes $7.50 an hour. He lives rent-free in a house on his parents' property in Williams and that's how he can make ends meet. He figures if he's ever going to be financially stable, he'll have to re-enter the military. "In the military I made $1,300 a month and they took care of the housing," he said. "It was a good experience and I could retire at age 38." He said maybe then he could come back to the Rogue Valley for good. "We're both from here," he explained. "But it's hard to find anything more than $8 an hour and it's hard to pay rent on that." Reach reporter Dani Dodge at 776-4471, or e-mail [email protected] Mail Tribune Home | Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. | Dow Jones & Co., Inc. | Privacy | Contact Us Copyright � 2001 Mail Tribune, Inc.