Underpaid Workers Demand Federal Action to Raise Wages
Protest Held at Office of Senator Ron Johnson
MILWAUKEE – On the seven year anniversary of the most recent minimum wage increase, dozens of workers employed in the fast food, retail, and home care industries are gathered outside of the office of U.S. Senator Ron Johnson, to call for federal action to raise wages.
Underpaid workers active in the national “Fight for $15” movement rallied Monday on the steps of the Federal Building in Milwaukee to demand an increase in the federal minimum wage to $15 an hour. Currently both the federal minimum and Wisconsin minimum wage are $7.25 an hour. The last time Congress increased the minimum wage was in 2009.
“Tens of thousands of hard working Milwaukee families are unable to afford the basics because they are paid at or near the minimum wage of $7.25. It’s absolutely outrageous that anyone can work more than 40 hours a week and still be trapped in poverty,” said Martha De La Rosa, executive director of Wisconsin Jobs Now.
Monday’s action in Milwaukee took place while the Democratic National Convention got underway in Philadelphia. The Democratic Party has made support for a $15 minimum a major plank of the party platform, after a contentious primary fight between Bernie Sanders, who last year introduced federal legislation to raise the minimum wage to $15, and Hillary Clinton, who initially expressed support for $12 an hour.
NOTE: This press release was submitted to Urban Milwaukee and was not written by an Urban Milwaukee writer. While it is believed to be reliable, Urban Milwaukee does not guarantee its accuracy or completeness.
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Jul 25th, 2016 by Wisconsin Jobs NowProtest Held at Office of Senator Ron Johnson
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Jul 1st, 2016 by Wisconsin Jobs NowResignation of Takeover Czar a Victory for Milwaukee Children
In our area you need to look very hard to find any minimum wage jobs. With unemployment here is NW Wisconsin at 3.9% it a workers market. McDonalds here is starting people at 10:50 part time, Other fast food has had to match to get workers creating the starting wage in our area. Sure you will find retailers like Kohls offering more towards the minimum but why would someone choose that when $3.00 per hour is available across the street.
The bigger question is why someone takes a job like that when there is plenty of training programs available to get people the skills they need to get the jobs that start in the $15.00 per hour range and then grow from there and grow quickly if you are a good employee. One example I personally know if a lady that went back to school at 43 yrs of age for CNC, graduated from a 1 year class, was hired at 14.75 and after 2 years is at just under 19.00 per hour. Not bad. Please contact me if anyone would like to relocate to NW WI and enjoy a much lower cost of living, lower crime and better education. We would love to have you.
Consequences of a $15 an hour minimum wage will be hard to take. Most jobs paying minimum wage now won’t be able to handle this higher rate without raising costs to consumers which will mean less income, because some people will not pay more for the same product. Other ramifications will be to keep profits high, fewer workers will be used to keep the payroll level with today’s standards. If you owned a business, would you want to pay $15.00 per hour to a brand new hire who you have to train, spend time making sure they know what they are doing and have them quit because they don’t like the job? Would you be willing to pay someone $15.00 an hour who can’t get to work on time; put in the proper effort to do the job; has never worked before?
Use some common sense when wishing for a raise. If this does go through, hopefully, we don’t end up with more people out of work, because businesses can’t afford to hire them.