by James Parks, Oct 24, 2006

Two top congressional Democrats promised that if their party gains control of Congress in the Nov. 7 elections, there would be a vote to raise the minimum wage within 24 hours after the opening gavel of the new Congress.

Sen. Edward Kennedy (D-Mass.), who would chair the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee if Democrats are in the majority next year, said during a telephone press briefing yesterday:

Let’s get a Democratic Senate, and I’ll do my damnedest to get this increased minimum wage out in 24 hours.

House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), who would become house speaker if the Democrats gain the majority Nov. 7, also has said a minimum wage hike would be on the House floor within 24 hours after the new Congress convenes in January.

Kennedy is the sponsor of S. 1062, which would raise the federal minimum wage from $5.15 an hour to $7.25 in about two years.

Republican leaders in Congress succeeded in preventing an increase in the nation’s minimum wage this year, but the AFL-CIO and working families plan to keep pushing for a new law in the next Congress. Ten years after Congress approved the last raise, the federal minimum buys less than it did in 1951, accounting for inflation—fewer groceries, far fewer gallons of gasoline, less medicine and less for rent.

The need for an increase in the minimum wage is clear when you listen to the stories of people who have to live and support a family while working at or near the minimum wage. This week, the AFL-CIO and ACORN are sponsoring the video blog “7 Days @Minimum Wage, which is running at http://sevendaysatminimumwage.org/ from Oct. 23 –30.

Hosted by comedienne Roseanne Barr, the vlog features interviews with seven workers describing life at or near the federal minimum wage, which has not been raised since 1997.

Frustrated by the congressional refusal to understand that $5.15 is too little to live on, the AFL-CIO union movement has spearheaded the America Needs a Raise campaign to raise the minimum wage at the state and federal levels. The campaign has provided momentum to put the issue on the ballot Nov. 7 in six states—Arizona, Colorado, Missouri, Montana, Nevada and Ohio.

This year alone, the efforts of union members and their allies resulted in new statutes boosting the minimum wage in 11 states—Arkansas, California, Delaware, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island and West Virginia. Of that number, six increased wages above the federal rate for the first time, bringing to 22 states and the District of Columbia where the lowest-paid workers will make more than the federal minimum.

Former Democratic vice presidential candidate John Edwards, who has helped push some of the ballot initiatives, told reporters Oct. 23 the public wants a minimum wage increase.

The reason that we began these ballot initiatives in these states is because the Republican-led Congress has been thwarting the will of the American people. Those who are opposing raising the minimum wage in the United States Congress hope that no one back home is paying attention. We’re going to make sure they’re paying attention.

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