Election Season Brings Focus to Minimum Wage Laws in D-2 States

Efforts to raise minimum wages and make them livable for working families throughout America are ramping up in IATSE District 2 states and have the support of Presidential candidate John Kerry.

As part of his plan to build a stronger economy for America's families, Democratic Presidential candidate John Kerry called for raising the federal minimum wage to $7 by 2007. The increase will impact nearly 15 million workers, helping families make ends meet and move another step towards the American Dream.

Meanwhile, workers in Nevada and California are fighting to pass initiatives that would bring their states' minimum wage laws up to par with the constantly rising cost of living.

In the battleground state of Nevada, Democrats are seeking to place an initiative on the November ballot that will increase the minimum wage from $5.15 to $6.15 per hour. Labor leaders expect the measure to make the ballot and to increase voter turnout in this most important of elections. The measure would allow for employers who provide healthcare for their workers to be exempted from the wage increase.

In California a bill is on the Governor's desk that would raise the minimum wage from $6.75 per hour to $7.75 over the next two years. While Lobbyists are uncertain of the prospects for this version of the minimum wage law, many believe an increase is inevitable.

Arizona, while adhering to the federal minimum wage of $5.15, does not have its own minimum wage law. According to figures released by the National Low-Income Housing Coalition (NLIHC), this wage represents only 34 percent of the amount needed to cover average housing costs in the state. Hawaii's minimum wage is $6.25 per hour - which makes up only 37 percent of the NLIHC-recommended income the average citizen would have to earn to pay for reasonable housing in the state.

[return to top]