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Minimum Wage Workers in 14 States Get Pay Boost to Start 2008 |
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Minimum wage workers in 14 states will see a boost in pay starting with their first checks in 2008. The new rates took effect Jan. 1.
Workers in five states will see their hourly rates jump between 50 cents and $1.35 an hour as part of recently passed state legislation or ballot initiatives that pushed state wage floors above the federal minimum wage. Workers in nine other states with their minimum wage rates tied to the cost of living will earn an extra 10 cents to 18 cents an hour.
Thirty-one states plus the District of Columbia have set higher minimum wage standards than called for under the federal minimum wage law. Most of those states have boosted their minimum wage levels while the federal wage was stuck at $5.15 an hour for 10 years.
Since the begining of 2006, 22 states have raised their minimum wages. Together with the community group ACORN, the AFL-CIO’s America Needs a Raise campaign mobilized working families to persuade lawmakers to pass new state wage laws and voters in six states to approve ballot measures in 2006 calling for higher minimum wages. Legislatures in Iowa, Kentucky, New Hampshire and New Mexico passed wage increases in 2007.
Last year, after more than a decade of Republican roadblocks in Congress and Bush administration opposition to raising the pay of millions of the nation’s lowest-paid workers, Congress—with new Democratic majorities—passed and Bush signed a minimum wage bill. That increased the federal rate from $5.15 an hour to $5.85 in July, with 50-cent increases due this year on July 24 and in 2009.
New Mexico workers saw the biggest pay hike, from $5.15 an hour to $6.50 an hour. The Iowa minimum wage increased yesterday from $6.20 an hour to $7.25. California and Massachusetts minimum wage workers now earn $8 an hour following a 50-cent raise in both states, and in Delaware, the minimum wage also jumped 50 cents, to $7.15 an hour.
The 10 states where the minimum wage is indexed against the cost of living, offering some protection against raising costs, are Arizona (15 cents to $6.90), Colorado (17 cents to $7.02) ), Florida (12 cents to $6.79), Missouri (15 cents to $6.65), Montana (10 cents to $6.25), Ohio (15 cents to $7), Oregon (15 cents to $7.95), Vermont (15 cents to $7.68) and Washington (14 cents to $8.07).
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The Federal Government has always played the leading role in improving the quality of life for its citizens. The Bill of Rights, the Emancipation proclamation, the abolition of slavery, the Civil Rights legislation, and etc are such examples. Today, the roles get reversed. The States are now the leaders in promoting populist idea like raising the minimum wage for the working class.