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Legislative News & Views

Raising the Minimum Wage

Pennsylvania's Workers get a raise!!

June of 2006 the State House passed SB 1090 which will give Pennsylvania's lowest paid workers a raise.  The bill takes Pennsylvania's minimum wage to $6.25 on January 1, 2007 and then to $7.15 by July 1, 2007.  The bill does include a carve out for small businesses's which allows businesses's with ten or less employees to raise their wage to $5.65 on January 1, 2007 and $6.65 by July 1, 2007.  By July 1, 2008 all minimum wage workers will be earning $7.15. 

Saturday morning the State Senate passed the bill and, Governor Edward G. Rendell is scheduled to sign in shortly. 

The passage of SB 1090 is a true victory for the working men and women of the Commonwealth, and the Pennsylvania AFL-CIO would like to thank everyone who took the time to contact their legislator, attend a rally, and support Labor's initiative to increase the minimum wage. 

“We are pleased with the humane action taken by both the leadership and the members of the State Legislature which will soon begin improving the lives of hundreds of thousands of low wage workers across Pennsylvania” George said. The additional income will help provide for the essentials of life for low wage workers and help create more jobs by pumping millions of additional dollars back into local economies all across Pennsylvania,” George said

“Pennsylvania is once again taking its rightful place as a leader among states for good jobs, economic and social progress.  Today we join the list of 21 other states, including our neighboring states of New Jersey, New York, Maryland, Delaware and West Virginia in restoring the value and dignity of work. Raising the minimum wage is one of the most important steps we can take to reduce poverty and to promote good jobs for working Pennsylvanians, who work hard everyday,” George said.

“Hopefully, this victory will convince the President and Congressional leaders that over nine years is far too long to go without a raise and that the vast majority of Americans, both Republicans and Democrats, all support raising the federal minimum wage,” Bloomingdale added.

Why Minimum Wage?

Do you think that someone who works full time should be able to support themselves and their family? If they just earn the minimum wage they can't.

In fact, the minimum wage has become a poverty wage. Someone who works 40 hours a week 52 weeks a year for the minimum wage will make $5,000 less than what the federal government says is needed to keep a family of three out of poverty. A single parent with one child working the same schedule will come up $2,000 short.

Common sense suggests that if we want we want people to take responsibility for supporting themselves and their families by working, work needs to pay enough to make healthy family life possible. Raising Pennsylvania's minimum wage would be an important first step toward this goal.

There is good evidence that most Americans support raising the minimum wage. In 2004 voters in Florida and Nevada (states that voted for George Bush) approved rises in their state's minimum wage by 72 and 68 percent respectively.

A number of religious organizations and denominations, including the the National Council of Churches, the Catholic church, the United Church of Christ, the Christian Church, the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, and many others support increasing the federal minimum wage on moral and theological grounds.

Adults and Adults with Families Depend on the Minimum Wage

Some people think that raising the minimum wage doesn't matter because they believe it's mostly earned by high school kids or spouses working in part-time jobs. Hardly.

Evidence from studies of the 1996-97 federal minimum wage increase shows that, nationwide, the average minimum wage worker brings home more than half (54 percent on average) of his or her family's weekly earnings.

In Pennsylvania, according to the Keystone Research Center, 71 percent of Pennsylvania workers whose wages would be raised directly by a minimum wage increase to $7.15 are adults, age 20 or older. 86 percent of those who would benefit indirectly due to “spillover effects” are adults.

37 percent of Pennsylvania workers who would benefit directly from a minimum wage increase work full time, and 34.3 percent work between 20 and 34 hours per week.

Raising the Will Have Little Impact on Employment and May Benefit the Economy Overall

Some people also think that raising the minimum wage will force employers to let go of workers or stop hiring altogether.

Studies of the 1996-97 minimum wage increase have, again, found little evidence that there was any significant job loss as the result of the increase. In fact, many employers are thought to have benefited from increased productivity, lower employee turnover resulting from higher morale due to higher wages.

Of course, workers who have more money in their pockets can increase demand goods and services of all kinds leading to broader economic growth.

One Current Proposal for Pennsylvania

State House Democratic Whip Mike Veon, Caucus Chairman Mark Cohen and Labor Relations Committee Chairman Bob Belfanti have called for an increase in Pennsylvania's minimum wage from the current $5.15 per hour to $7.15 per hour by 2007.

 

 

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