A coalition of organized labor and religious groups, citing the needs of poor workers and passages from the Bible, opened a drive to increase the minimum wage from $5.15 to $6.65 per hour.

And though they're convinced of the justice of the cause, one speaker - AFL-CIO Secretary-Treasurer Richard Trumka - said they'll use voters' power to help push it through, too.

The proposal they back, H.R. 665 and S. 964, would raise the wage in three 50-cent steps. It would directly help seven million low-income workers - most of them adults and many of them single female heads of households - and 10 million children, and indirectly help another 10.5 million workers, Trumka said.

"It's morally reprehensible that millions of working families continue to live in poverty because the federal minimum wage has been stuck at $5.15 for four years," he added.

The religious leaders also strongly oppose pro-business provisions that minimum wage increase foes and pro-business lawmakers want to attach. They include comp time instead of overtime and GOP President Bush's plan to let states "opt out" of the federal minimum wage increase.

Message from God
"We believe God is calling us to address the problems of the poor," said Methodist minister Robert Edgar, General Secretary of the 36-denomination National Council of Churches.

Edgar, who is also a former Pennsylvania congressman, discussed the minimum wage hike with the Salvation Army director in Washington, D.C., who told him that "a significant number of people sleeping overnight in our shelters are employed full-time, as are a significant number who appear in our food lines."

That's because, said Rabbi David Saperstein of the Union of American Hebrew Congregations, the minimum wage lost 24 percent of its purchasing power since the last increase, in 1996. "Today, in cities and states, minimum wage employees working 40 hours a day, 52 weeks a year, make $10,700 - $3,400 below the federal poverty line for a family of three."

Quoting from Deuteronomy, Saperstein added: "What we own, we own in a trust relationship, and God has entrusted us to share with those less fortunate."

Power of the ballot
Trumka said that if the moral power of the minimum wage increase cannot overcome business resistance, votes can. "There's something else we can bring to bear that's better than cash" from campaign contributions, he said. "It's called ballots. We will bring pressure on those who oppose the increase, and warn them they will face the consequences."

This article was written by Press Associates, Inc., news service. Used with permission.

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Labor, religious groups open drive for new minimum wage

By tsuperadmin | June 24, 2001

A coalition of organized labor and religious groups, citing the needs of poor workers and passages from the Bible, opened a drive to increase the minimum wage from $5.15 to $6.65 per hour.

And though they’re convinced of the justice of the cause, one speaker – AFL-CIO Secretary-Treasurer Richard Trumka – said they’ll use voters’ power to help push it through, too.

The proposal they back, H.R. 665 and S. 964, would raise the wage in three 50-cent steps. It would directly help seven million low-income workers – most of them adults and many of them single female heads of households – and 10 million children, and indirectly help another 10.5 million workers, Trumka said.

“It’s morally reprehensible that millions of working families continue to live in poverty because the federal minimum wage has been stuck at $5.15 for four years,” he added.

The religious leaders also strongly oppose pro-business provisions that minimum wage increase foes and pro-business lawmakers want to attach. They include comp time instead of overtime and GOP President Bush’s plan to let states “opt out” of the federal minimum wage increase.

Message from God
“We believe God is calling us to address the problems of the poor,” said Methodist minister Robert Edgar, General Secretary of the 36-denomination National Council of Churches.

Edgar, who is also a former Pennsylvania congressman, discussed the minimum wage hike with the Salvation Army director in Washington, D.C., who told him that “a significant number of people sleeping overnight in our shelters are employed full-time, as are a significant number who appear in our food lines.”

That’s because, said Rabbi David Saperstein of the Union of American Hebrew Congregations, the minimum wage lost 24 percent of its purchasing power since the last increase, in 1996. “Today, in cities and states, minimum wage employees working 40 hours a day, 52 weeks a year, make $10,700 – $3,400 below the federal poverty line for a family of three.”

Quoting from Deuteronomy, Saperstein added: “What we own, we own in a trust relationship, and God has entrusted us to share with those less fortunate.”

Power of the ballot
Trumka said that if the moral power of the minimum wage increase cannot overcome business resistance, votes can. “There’s something else we can bring to bear that’s better than cash” from campaign contributions, he said. “It’s called ballots. We will bring pressure on those who oppose the increase, and warn them they will face the consequences.”