????上周，喜劇演員史蒂芬?科爾伯特拿麥當勞（McDonald's）開刀，挑起了當前美國就業(yè)市場最尖銳的問題——鐘點工與CEO薪資的兩極分化。當前鐘點工的時薪是8.25美元，CEO的年薪是875萬美元（相當于時薪超過4,200美元）。

????此次爭論的焦點是鐘點工的最低工資。目前聯(lián)邦的最低工資標準是在四年前制定的，數(shù)額為7.25美元，但有18個州以及華盛頓特區(qū)的最低工資標準都比這個數(shù)字要高。企業(yè)拒絕加薪，聲稱他們已經(jīng)在微利經(jīng)營，再加薪勢必會壓榨利潤空間，屆時如果不將成本轉移到消費者身上，就得被迫關門歇業(yè)。

????科爾伯特用調(diào)侃的語氣給麥當勞的員工提了個建議，讓他們停止抱怨。他的建議是：“接受一個過得去的工資，盡量多偷吃點東西補回來”。

????這正是全國400萬名快餐店員工多年來一直在做的事情。但是現(xiàn)在，他們當中已經(jīng)有人開始反擊了。成千上萬名這樣的員工正打算在本周開展罷工抗議。罷工活動將在紐約等超過七座城市開展，屆時他們將暫時離開麥當勞等速食店的工作崗位，借此迫使雇主提高薪資。

????目前尚不清楚這場罷工最終到底是會為廣大收銀員、廚師、備餐員和外賣人員爭取到更好的報酬，還是成為這場全國性對話中一個瞬間即逝的時刻。聯(lián)邦政府意欲采取措施，提振中產(chǎn)階級的就業(yè)前景，但這樣做也會帶來隱憂，那就是，增加開支從長遠角度講對國家不利。

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

????華盛頓政府與沃爾瑪之間的對峙反映了美國就業(yè)市場的一個重大變化，而就是這個變化重塑了美國的國家經(jīng)濟。具體說來，中薪的工作機會已經(jīng)消失——尤其是在五年前的金融危機以后，取而代之的是日益增多的低薪鐘點工崗位。這些崗位就算有福利，也少得可憐。

????非營利組織全國就業(yè)法律工程（National Employment Law Project，簡稱NELP）的執(zhí)行董事克里斯汀?歐文斯一直觀察著勞動力市場的動向。她說：“低薪的工作機會增多了，但是扣除物價上漲因素后，低薪族和中薪族的薪水都在下降。”

????歐文斯稱，2009年到2010年，美國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、家庭護理員、私人護理員、女傭和管家——都喪失了5%的購買力。

????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."