Labor Activists, Working Poor Blast Senate Refusal to Raise Minimum Wage

"The minimum wage has stood still for nine years," Julie Smith, a 42-year-old office manager in Cleveland, told BlackAmericaWeb.com. "People who are willing to work 40 hours a week or more for minimum wage ought to be able to pay their rent. They ought to be able to pay their bills."

Smith is a member of the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now, which works to educate citizens and advocate for a better quality of life for minorities and the working poor.

Smith, a single mom, remembers barely making ends meet when she worked retail while trying to finish her degree.

“Not everyone gets to go to college to prepare for higher paying jobs,” Smith said. “Minimum wage is the floor, but unfortunately, that’s what many people have to rely on.”


Maude Hurd, national president of ACORN, said the organization is “disappointed, but not deterred.” In a prepared statement, Hurd said, "In voting down an increase in the minimum wage, the Republican-controlled Senate went against the will of the American people, who believe that a hard day's work deserves fair pay."

With the help of a few rebellious Republicans, House Democrats on the House Appropriations Committee succeeded in attaching a minimum wage increase last week to legislation providing funding for federal social programs. Fearing that the House would pass the measure with the increase intact, the GOP leadership swiftly decided to sidetrack the entire bill.

The Senate vote marked the ninth time since 1997 that Democrats there have proposed -- and Republicans have blocked -- a stand-alone increase in the minimum wage. The debate fell along predictable lines.

"Americans believe that no one who works hard for a living should have to live in poverty. A job should lift you out of poverty, not keep you in it," said Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, D-Mass. He said a worker paid $5.15 an hour would earn $10,700 a year, "almost $6,000 below the poverty line for a family of three."

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