Mikulski wrong to oppose prevailing wage rule

Former Labor Secretary Robert Reich is spot-on ("Inequality, unemployment and unresponsive government," Nov. 9). In Baltimore, 10.4 percent of people are out of work and struggling to find jobs with decent pay. Our own Sen. Barbara Mikulski has attacked a new U.S. Department of Labor rule that would raise the prevailing local wage in certain jobs in industries like seafood, landscaping, and construction. Under the existing rule, employers must offer local and migrant landscaping workers $9.12/hour. The new rule would raise that wage to $12.80/hour. Workers and their advocates have called on the senator to stop attacking decent wages for migrants' and Maryland's working families. In this economy, local and migrant workers need Senator Mikulski's support for the prevailing wage.

Kristin Love, Baltimore

The writer is a policy attorney for Centro de los Derechos del Migrante.