Bernie Sanders and Patty Murray: It's time for a national $15 minimum wage
April 28, 2017
By Bernie Sanders and Patty Murray
Special to The Times
Excerpt:
The erosion of the federal minimum wage is a major reason why more than 43 million Americans are living in poverty today. People are working, and they’re working hard. But they’re going nowhere in a hurry. Health-care costs are going up, child-care costs are going up, college costs are going up, and housing costs are going up. Wages are not. That has got to change.
Thanks to the “Fight for $15” grass-roots movement, the cities of Seattle, Los Angeles, San Francisco, New York, and Washington, D.C., are raising the minimum wage to $15 an hour. The states of California and New York are doing the same. As a result of these efforts, more than 10 million workers in America will see their wages raised to $15 an hour. We’ve got to do the same nationally.
By phasing in a pay raise for tens of millions of workers, we can improve living standards, lift families out of poverty, and provide a much-needed boost to our economy. Our bill will raise the wages of 41 million workers — an extra $3,500 a year in pay for full-time workers.
Today, almost 70 percent of our gross domestic product is dependent upon the purchasing power of consumers. When low-wage workers have money in their pockets, they spend that money in restaurants and businesses throughout this country. All of this new demand gives companies a reason to expand and hire. This is a win-win-win for our economy.
http://www.seattletimes.com/opinion/bernie-sanders-and-patty-murray-its-time-for-national-15-minimum-wage/
