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PA AFL-CIO President Bill George Speaks to Minimum Wage Rally

Bill George, president of the PA AFL-CIO, expressed the labor federation's support support for increasing the minimum wage at a rally in the Capitol rotunda in Harrisburg on June 22nd.

George noted that while the rally was going on, the House was debating payday lending and the Senate was considering expanding child labor. “Something is wrong,” he said, adding that it is a disgrace people may be cut from Medicaid. George offered that both New York and New Jersey raised the minimum wage to $7.00, and a total of 17 states increased minimum wage above the federal amount of $5.15. He said that despite claims by pro-business groups, other states have increased their minimum wage without one job being lost. He suggested that increasing the minimum wage by one dollar will keep Social Security solvent until at least 2080. George concluded with a message for lawmakers that if they don’t vote for minimum wage, they won’t get any votes from AFL-CIO members.

The rally was sponsored by a coalition of lawmakers, workers, labor unions and clergy and concluded a day of lobbying for a minimum wage increase from $5.15 to $7.15 per hour.

John Dodds from the Philadelphia Unemployment Project opened the event by stating that it has been eight years since the minimum wage was raised and it is “long past due.”

Senator Vincent Hughes (D-Philadelphia) said that it is time to raise the minimum wage because families need it now. He then introduced Senator Tina Tartaglione (D-Philadelphia), sponsor of SB 369, which would increase the minimum wage to $7.00 in two years.

Senator Tartaglione stated that she has introduced legislation to increase the minimum wage in each of the past three sessions. Support is starting to steamroll, she told the crowd, adding that people need the increase now.

Rep. Mark Cohen (D-Philadelphia), who introduced HB 257, which would increase the minimum wage to $7.15, was the next to speak. He urged supporters to tell their legislators the increase is necessary. Pennsylvanians deserve the same wage as workers in other states, he offered, adding that the increase will give people a shot at getting out of poverty by working.

Rep. John Taylor (R-Philadelphia), who introduced HB 216, which would increase the minimum wage to $6.15, also urged everyone in attendance to push their legislators to vote for the increase. He noted that the House has passed legislation increasing the minimum wage every year since 1999, but it always stalls in the Senate. Legislators have received pay increases, he noted, and everyone deserves an increase. Rep. Taylor opined that the House would not need to debate payday lending if the state adopts an adequate wage.

John Meyerson of the United Food and Commercial Workers Local 1776 said that unions support increasing the minimum wage, but it is an issue for all Pennsylvanians. He suggested that if low wage earners are given a chance to make more money they will spend every penny of it and it will benefit communities.

Rev. Randy Barge of the Calvin Presbyterian Church in Philadelphia offered that this is not a political issue, but a moral issue. He suggested that legislators have a responsibility to take care of the most vulnerable members of society. It is wrong that government can make tax cuts for the rich and can provide corporations with giveaways, but they can’t help low wage earners, he concluded.

Steve Herzenberg of the Keystone Research Center spoke to dispute claims by business groups that a minimum wage increase will cost jobs. He offered that economists have looked at the facts and determined that it doesn’t cost jobs, but it does increase the incomes of workers. He offered that a group of 40 economists across Pennsylvania feel increasing the minimum wage is good economics and is also morally correct.

Lt. Governor Catherine Baker Knoll, who was not scheduled to appear, spoke to offer her support for a minimum wage increase. She noted that states around Pennsylvania have increased their minimum wage, so to stay competitive, Pennsylvania should as well. She urged everyone to talk to legislators about the need for an increase.

Rep. Bob Belfanti (D-Northumberland), Democratic Chairman of the House Labor Relations Committee, said that in his 25 years as a House member there have only been three minimum wage increases. He stated that there are only four or five Senate Republican leaders that are blocking the proposal. If an increase does not pass with the budget, he told supporters, they should picket the offices of Senate leadership “to let them know the seriousness of this issue.”

Throughout the press conference, a few workers earning minimum wage spoke in support of the legislation. They all suggested that a minimum wage increase is necessary so people can simply pay their bills.

Dodds concluded the rally by calling on supporters of a minimum wage increase to visit the offices of every legislator in the Capitol.

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