Apparently, although the amount of the Federal minimum pay has gone up over the years, purchasing power has actually gone down. Fortunately, many states have had the good sense to set their own minimum limits. Unfortunately, many have not. One can wonder why increases have not been indexed. Perhaps it is another example of the disfunctional nature of government.
Clearly, workers cannot depend on government to solve this problem. Apparently, workers have to take matters into their own hands. As worker owners we have the control to refuse to work for anything but just pay. When enough of us do that, the exploitation, government sponsored or not, will end.