????上周，喜劇演員史蒂芬?科爾伯特拿麥當(dāng)勞（McDonald's）開刀,，挑起了當(dāng)前美國(guó)就業(yè)市場(chǎng)最尖銳的問(wèn)題——鐘點(diǎn)工與CEO薪資的兩極分化,。當(dāng)前鐘點(diǎn)工的時(shí)薪是8.25美元，CEO的年薪是875萬(wàn)美元（相當(dāng)于時(shí)薪超過(guò)4,200美元）,。

????此次爭(zhēng)論的焦點(diǎn)是鐘點(diǎn)工的最低工資,。目前聯(lián)邦的最低工資標(biāo)準(zhǔn)是在四年前制定的，數(shù)額為7.25美元,，但有18個(gè)州以及華盛頓特區(qū)的最低工資標(biāo)準(zhǔn)都比這個(gè)數(shù)字要高,。企業(yè)拒絕加薪,，聲稱他們已經(jīng)在微利經(jīng)營(yíng)，再加薪勢(shì)必會(huì)壓榨利潤(rùn)空間,，屆時(shí)如果不將成本轉(zhuǎn)移到消費(fèi)者身上,，就得被迫關(guān)門歇業(yè)。

????科爾伯特用調(diào)侃的語(yǔ)氣給麥當(dāng)勞的員工提了個(gè)建議,，讓他們停止抱怨,。他的建議是：“接受一個(gè)過(guò)得去的工資，盡量多偷吃點(diǎn)東西補(bǔ)回來(lái)”,。

????這正是全國(guó)400萬(wàn)名快餐店員工多年來(lái)一直在做的事情,。但是現(xiàn)在，他們當(dāng)中已經(jīng)有人開始反擊了,。成千上萬(wàn)名這樣的員工正打算在本周開展罷工抗議,。罷工活動(dòng)將在紐約等超過(guò)七座城市開展，屆時(shí)他們將暫時(shí)離開麥當(dāng)勞等速食店的工作崗位,，借此迫使雇主提高薪資,。

????目前尚不清楚這場(chǎng)罷工最終到底是會(huì)為廣大收銀員、廚師,、備餐員和外賣人員爭(zhēng)取到更好的報(bào)酬,，還是成為這場(chǎng)全國(guó)性對(duì)話中一個(gè)瞬間即逝的時(shí)刻。聯(lián)邦政府意欲采取措施,，提振中產(chǎn)階級(jí)的就業(yè)前景,，但這樣做也會(huì)帶來(lái)隱憂，那就是,，增加開支從長(zhǎng)遠(yuǎn)角度講對(duì)國(guó)家不利,。

????目前時(shí)薪戰(zhàn)已經(jīng)在華盛頓特區(qū)打響——不是在國(guó)會(huì)——而是當(dāng)?shù)卣臀譅柆敚╓al-Mart's）能否在這個(gè)國(guó)家的首都開店而展開的戰(zhàn)斗。華盛頓特區(qū)議會(huì)近期通過(guò)了一項(xiàng)法案,，規(guī)定大型零售商每小時(shí)必須至少支付其員工12.5美元的最低工資,。對(duì)此，折扣零售商沃爾瑪威脅稱將取消建立三家連鎖店的計(jì)劃,。

????華盛頓政府與沃爾瑪之間的對(duì)峙反映了美國(guó)就業(yè)市場(chǎng)的一個(gè)重大變化,，而就是這個(gè)變化重塑了美國(guó)的國(guó)家經(jīng)濟(jì)。具體說(shuō)來(lái),，中薪的工作機(jī)會(huì)已經(jīng)消失——尤其是在五年前的金融危機(jī)以后,，取而代之的是日益增多的低薪鐘點(diǎn)工崗位。這些崗位就算有福利,，也少得可憐,。

????非營(yíng)利組織全國(guó)就業(yè)法律工程（National Employment Law Project，簡(jiǎn)稱NELP）的執(zhí)行董事克里斯汀?歐文斯一直觀察著勞動(dòng)力市場(chǎng)的動(dòng)向,。她說(shuō)：“低薪的工作機(jī)會(huì)增多了,，但是扣除物價(jià)上漲因素后，低薪族和中薪族的薪水都在下降,?！?/p>

????歐文斯稱，2009年到2010年,，美國(guó)人的工資水平下降了2.8%,，而且低薪一族的工資下降幅度最大，半數(shù)的低薪工種——廚師,、備餐員,、家庭護(hù)理員、私人護(hù)理員,、女傭和管家——都喪失了5%的購(gòu)買力,。

????By skewering McDonald's over the gaping disparity between hourly worker pay and CEO compensation -- it's $8.25 per hour versus $8.75 million yearly (more than $4,200 per hour) -- comedian Stephen Colbert last week threw the spotlight on one of the most divisive issues in today's American working world.

????That debate is over the minimum wage paid to hourly workers. Currently, the federal minimum, set four years ago, is $7.25, but it is higher in 18 states and the District of Columbia. Businesses resist increases, complaining they operate on narrow margins and paying workers more will dig into their profits and lead them to raise prices or close their doors.

????Colbert's advice -- tongue-in-cheek -- to McDonald's (MCD) workers is to stop complaining and "accept a fair wage and all the grease you can breathe."

????And that's what most of the country's 4 million fast-food workers have done for years. But now, some are starting to push back. Thousands of such workers are planning a walkout this week, temporarily exiting their jobs at outlets like McDonald's in seven or more cities, including New York, to demand a bigger paycheck.

????It's unclear if this will prompt better pay for cashiers, cooks, prep staff, and delivery workers or end up as a fleeting moment in the national conversation. The White House wants to take measures to shore up middle class job prospects, but it is facing concerns that more spending will damage the country over the long term.

????The hourly wage battle is already underway in the District of Columbia -- not in Congress -- but in the local community over Wal-Mart's (WMT) entry into the nation's capital. When D.C.'s city council adopted a rule requiring big-box retailers to pay their workers a "living wage" of at least $12.50 per hour, the discount retailer threatened to stop construction on three stores it had planned to open.

????The standoff gets to the heart of the changes that have reshaped the national economy, where middle-wage jobs have disappeared, especially since the recession began five years ago, and have been increasingly replaced by lower-paid hourly jobs with few, if any, benefits.

????"Employers have been adding low-wage jobs, but inflation adjusted wages for lower-wage and middle-wage jobs are falling," says Christine Owens, executive director of the National Employment Law Project (NELP), which tracks workforce trends.

????The wage decline was 2.8% between 2009 and 2010, she says, and was largest at the lower end of the pay scale, where half of all low-paid occupations -- cooks, food preparation workers, home health aides, personal care aides, maids and housekeepers -- lost 5% of their buying power.

????"We have an increasingly productive work force," she says, "but while corporations are reaping the financial benefits from that, these gains are not being shared with the people actually doing the work."