Dear Jim,
At just $7.25 an hour, Pennsylvania's minimum wage leaves a family of three stuck below the poverty line. Pennsylvania workers earning minimum wage can't even afford to pay for an average two-bedroom apartment by working a standard 40-hour work week. Boosting Pennsylvania’s minimum wage to $10.10 per hour would give a much-needed pay raise to an estimated 1,074,000 workers in the state.
Unlike workers in the 21 states that have a minimum wage higher than the federal minimum, workers making the minimum wage in Pennsylvania have earned just $7.25 per hour since 2009, despite inflation. Pennsylvania workers deserve better.
CREDO activist Bill Deutschlander started a campaign on CREDOMobilize.com, which allows activists to start their own petitions. The petition, which is to Pennsylvania legislators, asks the following:
Support legislation to raise the minimum wage in Pennsylvania to $10.10 an hour, with automatic raises indexed to inflation each year.
In 2013, we saw national momentum build for raising the minimum wage. President Obama declared his intention to raise the minimum wage, and two members of Congress introduced the Fair Minimum Wage Act of 2013, which would have raised the federal minimum wage from $7.25 to $10.10 and indexed it to inflation.
But the thousands of Pennsylvania workers who aren't earning a fair wage shouldn't have to wait for the federal government to take action. Now is the time for Pennsylvania legislators to raise the minimum wage, and allow thousands of workers to provide for their families without public assistance.
By raising the minimum wage in Pennsylvania, legislators can also create desperately needed jobs by injecting more money into our local economy. Not only would the wages of workers currently making the minimum wage increase but thousands more who make just above the minimum would also see an automatic rise in their income. And because minimum-wage workers are more likely to be women, raising their income would also help close the gender gap in wages.
At a time when polls show that 67 percent of Americans support an increase in the federal minimum wage, it's important that we show Pennsylvania legislators that we support an increase in the state minimum wage as well.
Thanks for fighting to raise the minimum wage in Pennsylvania.
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