Minimum Wage 'Showdown' This Week

Act Now:
Senate to Vote on Minimum Wage
THIS WEEK

House Refuses to Allow Vote




This is it. The U.S. Senate is expected to vote on raising the minimum wage this week—and phony substitutes that actually hurt workers are feared.

In the House, the Republican leaders have declared their opposition to bringing a minimum wage increase to a vote—in the same week they approved the ninth increase in their own pay since minimum wage workers got a raise!

It’s urgent that you contact your U.S. senators and representative now and tell them to vote for a minimum wage increase and reject any amendments designed to hurt workers.



We’re coming down to the wire. The Senate is expected to vote on a minimum wage increase this week, but opponents may try to block it with phony proposals that actually hurt workers. Meanwhile, the Republican House leadership has refused to schedule a vote even though an increase to $7.25 an hour won a solid majority vote in committee. We have fought long and hard to give America’s low-wage workers a raise. What happens depends on your action now.

Please click the following link to urge your U.S. senators and representative to vote to increase the minimum wage and reject any amendments to the legislation that would hurt workers.

Click Here to Take Action

We expect a Senate vote on increasing the minimum wage from $5.15 to $7.25 an hour as soon as Wednesday. Opponents are likely to try to replace it with a much smaller increase loaded with amendments that would hurt workers—in the past, anti-worker senators have tossed in measures to eliminate overtime pay eligibility and take minimum wage protection from millions of workers. We have to demand that our senators vote to raise the wage to $7.25 an hour and reject any amendments that would hurt workers.

Take Action Now

In the House, in the same week members approved the ninth increase in their own pay since minimum wage workers last got a raise, Republican leaders said they will not allow a vote on the minimum wage increase. Democrats in the House are determined to move an increase.

“We’re going to have a showdown on the minimum wage,” said Rep. George Miller (D-Calif.).

Our job is to convince the House that America will not accept stonewalling on the minimum wage.

Take Action Now

Congress has not increased the minimum wage since 1997—it’s still stuck at an intolerable $5.15 an hour. But meanwhile, members of Congress voted themselves nine raises—the most recent vote just last week—totaling $34,930 a year and boosting their salaries to $168,500 a year in 2007. Compare that with the $10,712 earnings of a full-time minimum wage worker. Now add in the billions in tax breaks Congress has handed over to the rich.

It’s time to raise the minimum wage. Tell your senators and representative to vote to raise the minimum wage to $7.25 an hour and reject any amendments that would hurt workers.

http://www.unionvoice.org/campaign/minwagevote

Thanks for all you do to give low-wage workers a raise.

In solidarity,

Working Families e-Activist Network, AFL-CIO

P.S. Congress needs to hear the call for a minimum wage increase from thousands of constituents. Please forward this e-mail to others you know who care about a fair wage for all workers, and urge them to join you in taking action.

AFL-CIO Now Blog: http://blog.aflcio.org/