Increase In Minimum Wage for Abolishing Estate Tax?

Although I am usually cautious about linking to articles that mention a "secret cabal of 18 of the richest families," Jonathan Tasini at Working Life has picked up what could be an important rumor from the WSJ. It seems that Senate Republicans might be willing to trade an increase in the minimum wage for votes to permanently abolish the estate tax. If so, it wouldn't be the first time a deal like this was worked out. He has the following quote from the WSJ:

The last federal increase, signed into law months before the 1996 presidential elections, followed bargaining over tax- and health-insurance-related issues important to Republican conservatives. The same could happen now because the minimum-wage debate is coming to a head even as Republican leaders, already offering concessions to timber interests, are looking for the final Senate votes needed for a compromise on estate-tax relief. While far too early to predict, the party could solve two problems at once by linking the wage and estate-tax issues in an election-year deal.

His view is pretty clear - Will The Democrats Cave?. If he's right about the possible deal, I am not sure it would only be those with union activist backgrounds that would be upset .