Wage

washington -- Mitt Romney twice emphasized his unique business background when he and eight other Republican presidential candidates faced off in a debate last week in Iowa. "I've spent the last, as I've told you, 25 years in the private sector," former Massachusetts Gov. Romney declared at one point. "I understand why jobs come and why jobs go. I've done business in 20 countries."

That ray of light you see peeking through all the clouds darkening California's future? That's the sun. More specifically, solar power, in which California is the hands-down national leader. The state's installed solar generating capacity of about 1.2 gigawatts - the equivalent of two big conventional power plants and enough to fill the electrical demand from nearly 200,000 homes for a year - easily outstrips the next 10 highest-ranked states. It's also the fastest-growing solar market in the country.

Joshua Schippe's letter (May 20) in support of the editorial arguing for an increased minimum wage ("A Decent Wage," April 27) is a perfect illustration of the ignorance which persists on the issue of the minimum wage. Schippe writes: "My father offered me a job for this summer paying slightly less than minimum wage. I know I shouldn't complain--it's the best offer I have right now." Schippe fails to recognize that a principal reason why he has only one job offer, and that it is for less than minimum wage, is that the minimum wage inflates the true value of labor and produces lower employment, particularly for those with less quality education, training, and experience.

Peter Fuller, who never fully accepted the ruling that stripped the 1968 Kentucky Derby crown from his thoroughbred Dancer's Image, died Monday of cancer at a skilled-care facility in Portsmouth, N.H., his family said. He was 89. In May 1968, Dancer's Image rallied from last place in a field of 14 to win the Derby by a length and a half. Days later, traces of the drug phenylbutazone were found in the horse's post-race urinalysis, and the colt was disqualified. The medication is commonly used to alleviate chronic pain and joint soreness, not to enhance performance.

A major firm providing laundry services to business and governments nationwide has agreed to pay $6.5 million to settle a lawsuit brought by hundreds of Southern California laundry workers who alleged the company violated Los Angeles' "living wage" laws. Cintas Corp., which operates industrial laundries and other facilities in the United States and Canada, denied any wrongdoing but agreed to settle the 5 -year-old case "in order to avoid the additional expense and distraction of ongoing litigation," the Cincinnati-based company said in a statement.

Not paying a living wage provides a good living for so many people. ROBERT BINDER Claremont

Helping to raise the wages of those people who are stuck at the bottom of the income scale is a noble and worthwhile pursuit ("Living Wage Advocates Take on NoHo Project," Dec. 12). But the plan to force employers to pay a "living wage" of $8.97 per hour to low-skilled workers is off target and would hurt the entry-level employees the Valley Jobs Coalition seek to help. Mandating wage hikes--either through federal decree or some complex scheme--does not ensure that the people at the bottom rung of the ladder will have an easier climb out of poverty to higher paying jobs.

Low- and middle-wage jobs have grown the fastest this year, indicating that even if employers pick up the pace in job creation, robust consumer spending may still be elusive. That's according to a report out Wednesday from the National Employment Law Project, which used two data sets from the Bureau of Labor Statistics to examine the wages of growth industries. About 35% of the jobs lost in 2008 and 2009 were in industries that pay between $8.92 and $15.00 an hour, at the bottom two-fifths of the wage spectrum, the report says.

PARIS - It was billed as a political duel to the death. In the right corner, Nicolas Sarkozy, incumbent president seeking reelection but trailing badly in opinion polls. In the left, Socialist challenger Francois Hollande, favored to winFrance's presidential runoff Sunday but facing an aggressive rival with nothing to lose. The pair's only live television debate, it had been described by Sarkozy as "the moment of truth. " And, as possibly his last chance to turn his fortunes around, Sarkozy had vowed to "explode" his rival.

WASHINGTON -- Men continue to take a bigger hit in their paychecks than women because of lingering effects of the Great Recession, according to a study by the Conference Board. Average wages for women remain lower than those for their male counterparts, by nearly 20%. But men's wages have been much slower to rebound from the effects of the recession, which had its most severe impact on male-dominated industries, such as construction, the study found. Although the recession technically ended in 2009, men's wage growth had rebounded to half the average rate of the previous decade by last year.

The International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees and the major studios have reached a tentative agreement on a new contract that averts a potential showdown. The so-called basic agreement covers about 35,000 members who belong to IATSE's Hollywood locals and includes camera operators, set decorators, grips and others who work behind the scenes on movies and TV shows. Under the proposed deal reached late last night, IATSE members would receive a 2% annual wage increase over three years — in line with raises negotiated by other entertainment unions.

HUIZHOU, China — Tony Zhang used to make cents on the dollar churning out cheap sneakers for Wal-Mart. And like every other low-margin exporter in China's manufacturing heartland, he was struggling to keep pace with rising costs for labor and raw materials. Rather than run his business into the ground with ever-shrinking profits, the Taiwan-born Zhang decided to upgrade his operations. His factory just outside Shenzhen now makes specialty footwear, including fire retardant boots, steel-toed shoes and soccer cleats.

Everyone says there's a class war going on in the United States. If so, it is, at least so far, a war of words. It's also a war in which a principal tactic is accusing the other side of fighting a class war while denying that you're fighting one yourself. Meanwhile, everybody claims to be on the same side: the side of the people, against the aristocratic elitist snobs who … where did I park my tumbrel? In this war of words, certain words take on a special weight or meaning.

WASHINGTON -- Mitt Romney, speaking on the same stage that President Obama used a day earlier to launch a blistering attack on the GOP, returned fire by accusing the president of "rhetorical excess" and using "straw men to distract from his record. " The former Massachusetts governor, one day after winning a set of primaries that all but ensured he would be his party's nominee to face Obama in the fall, also used the week-old "hot mic" incident involving the president and his Russian counterpart to raise questions about what Obama would do if he wins a second term.

The Los Angeles City Council is considering granting economic incentives to the local hotel industry to encourage modernization projects and better pay for workers. In a motion introduced on Tuesday, the council agreed to ask several city departments for reports on how "public benefits" and other incentives could be used to help strengthen the local tourism industry, which the motion said is "lagging behind where it can be. " Hotels, the measure said, are aging and falling behind in energy efficiency, and hotel workers are largely "underpaid and overworked.

MADRID - The son of two teachers, Moises Leon got an education degree in hope of joining the ranks of the comfortable middle class that his parents worked all their lives to raise him in. But his graduation coincided with Europe's debt crisis, and Spain's spending cuts have put a teaching job out of reach. So he works two part-time jobs, as a day-care assistant and a private English teacher, that together earn him barely $1,000 a month. At 28, he still lives with his parents.