Those opposed to raising the minimum wage won’t like what one pizza joint has done. Nope.
upworthy.com|By Brandon Weber
Thanks to Sam Stark of Southeast Michigan Jobs With Justice (https://www.facebook.com/groups/44133003115/ )for this update on the effort to get decent wages to all .
Note links below on other low-wage struggles including California's Senate passing a bill with a $13.00/hour minimum wage and a Seattle City Council panel passing a $15.00/hour minimum wage.
From Sam Stark
May 30
Dear Raise Michigan Supporters,
As you know, a lot has happened over the last 48 hours surrounding our fight to raise the wage to $10.10/hr. Thank you so much for all you've done to help us get where we are today.
From the beginning, there were people who told us we couldn’t do this. But time and time again, we've proven them wrong. The fight isn’t over yet, but yesterday was a major victory for workers in Michigan.
Here’s a quick breakdown of what’s going on:
On Tuesday, Gov. Rick Snyder signed a bill that raises the minimum wage to $9.25 by 2018 and raises the tipped wage to 38 percent of the minimum wage, which will be $3.51. The increase is also tied to keep up with inflation. This minimum wage increase does not go far enough to help get working families out of poverty and leaves tipped employees with extremely low hourly wages.
Just a few months ago, the Governor said that raising the minimum wage “was not a priority” for his administration. Now, both he and the Democratic gubernatorial candidate are claiming credit for raising the minimum wage through this bi-partisan effort. The truth is that Raise Michigan was the catalyst for their action.
Snyder signed the bill with the intention of stopping our ballot drive, but we cannot be deterred! That’s why on Wednesday we turned in 319,784 signatures to the Secretary of State in Lansing to put our $10.10 question on the ballot. That's over 60,000 more signatures than the 258,000 signatures needed to qualify!
This fight is now about more than simply raising the minimum wage. Michigan lawmakers are trying to silence the voice of the people once again. We’re in this to raise the wage and fight for the integrity of the democratic process. Citizens have the right to petition their government without lawmakers using political tricks to try to derail their effort.
We’re in uncharted legal waters. This type of thing has never happened before. The legislature repealed and replaced the minimum wage law we’re trying to amend in an attempt to stop our campaign, but our resolve is strong and public support is behind our effort. We will have to wait and see if we'll be able to qualify for the November ballot.
It’s important to know that the legislature would have never raised the wage if it weren’t for our campaign putting pressure on them to act. While the new wage doesn’t go far enough, it’s progress that would have never happened without YOU!
We're going to keep educating voters about what's going on and keep pushing our campaign forward to November. No matter what happens, this campaign has demonstrated the power of collective action from the people. Michigan is the first conservative-controlled state to pass a minimum wage hike and it never would've happened without our grassroots campaign.
We earned some great media coverage- here’s just a snippet of what we got:
Time
New York Times
Detroit Free Press
Grand Rapids Evening News
We will keep these issues in the forefront of the political discussion until workers earn fair pay and the democratic process is restored. For now, pat yourself on the back, put that clipboard away for a little while, and know that you’ve helped make history in Michigan.
In Solidarity,
The Raise Michigan Team
http://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/Bill-passes-to-push-California-s-minimum-wage-to-5514974.php
(05-29) 18:40 PDT Sacramento -- Calling last year's minimum wage hike a good first step, the California Senate approved a measure Thursday that would further lift the pay floor to $13 an hour by 2017.
The bill by Sen. Mark Leno, D-San Francisco, comes about a month before the state's minimum wage is set to increase from $8 an hour to $9 in July as part of legislation signed by Gov. Jerry Brown last year that also included another $1 per hour by 2016.
Leno's SB 935 would override and increase the ladder raise as minimum wage would move to $11 in 2015, $12 in 2016 and $13 by 2017. Starting in 2018, the bill calls for additional adjustments annually for inflation. The bill is sponsored by the Women's Foundation of California and SEIU California State Council and is now headed to the stat Assembly for consideration.
"No one should be working full-time and living in poverty," Leno said. "Even with our increase last year, Californians will still be paid poverty wages and qualify for public assistance."
Leno said the bill would benefit 7.9 million Californians, whose minimum wage paychecks mean they live in poverty and depend on social welfare programs. Leno said that dynamic means taxpayers are "subsidizing the largest corporations paying these poverty wages."
http://peoplesworld.org/seattle-city-council-panel-oks-15-an-hour-minimum-wage/
(AP) - An ordinance that gradually increases the minimum wage in Seattle to $15 an hour was approved Thursday by a City Council committee, setting up a full council vote next week.
In a boisterous meeting, City Council members approved a delay to the implementation of the ordinance, from Jan. 1, 2015 to April 1, 2015. They voted down amendments that would have sped up phase-ins as well as discounting tips from total compensation. The council also approved a sub-minimum wage for teenagers, a provision opposed by labor representatives.
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| Hey,Hey, Ho, Ho, $7.40 has got to go ! A California judge this week rejected a bid by McDonald’s to dismiss the class-action lawsuit by workers alleging wage theft. Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Jane Johnson said the legal claims by former McDonald’s workers were sufficiently alleged for the case to move forward. McDonald’s workers in California, Michigan and New York have all filed wage theft class action lawsuits against McDonald’s. The California suit charges wage theft occurred in a hundred restaurants there. http://laborradio.org/2014/05/judge-rejects-mcdonalds-effort-to-dismiss-wage-theft-suit/ |
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