Minimum Wage: Build on Missouri's Victory

It's time to raise our national minimum wage

In November, Missourians overwhelmingly approved an increase in the state's minimum wage.  Illinois' minimum wage is already well above the federal minimum wage of $5.15 per hour.  Today we can help be sure ALL the workers in our country can get the raise we've won in our states.

The new Congress has just been sworn in - and they have promised to make raising the minimum wage one of their first priorities. The House will vote as soon as next Wednesday.  Please E-MAIL THE LETTER BELOW and tell Congress to increase the minimum wage to $7.25 an hour with no anti-worker amendments or tax breaks for the wealthy. 

Sample Letter for Campaign

Subject: Raise the Minimum Wage

Dear [ Decision Maker ] ,

Almost a decade ago, Congress made the minimum wage $5.15 an hour. It wasn't much to begin with, and now, almost a decade later, it buys about 20% less than it did when first set there. That's unfair any way you look at it.

You can do something about that by voting to increase the minimum wage to $7.25 an hour.

Please start the new Congressional session off by passing a clean minimum wage bill without tax breaks for business, the wealthy, or any other unrelated proposals to benefit special interests.

I urge you to vote "yes" on this measure that is so important to millions of American working families.

Sincerely,

Campaign Launched:
January 05, 2007


Background Information

It's time to raise our national minimum wage

We've all felt it: for working people, a dollar just doesn't go as far as it used to.

Over the last few years, there's been a lot of talk about an economy in recovery. Wall Street has been celebrating as stocks have shot upward. But that prosperity isn't being shared with working families across America.

We think it's time that changed. You can help by urging Congress to take the first step by increasing the minimum wage to $7.25 an hour:

TAKE ACTION:  Tell Congress to Raise the minimum Wage!

Even if you don't earn the minimum wage, you should care about it. Why? Because it sets the "wage floor" - the base level that everybody's wages go up from. And when the floor is this low, even tall people can look awfully short.

There hasn't been an increase in the minimum wage in a decade - and over that time, inflation has steadily pushed that wage floor downwards. Today the minimum wage buys about 20% less than it did when it was last increased, back in 1997.

Maybe your wages haven't fallen quite so dramatically -- but unless you're among the very rich, your wages have fallen too. Working families saw their real incomes drop by nearly 3% between 2000 and 2005.

The evidence is clear: holding down the minimum wage to pad corporate profits doesn't just hurt the more than six million working people who earn that wage; it hurts working families across the board.

Raising the wage floor is the first step towards a fairer economy. When the new Congress meets in early January, it can make that happen by increasing the minimum wage to $7.25 an hour.

Since the last time they raised the minimum wage, Congress has increased its own salary by $31,600. That's more than three times the amount a minimum wage earner makes in a year. Join us in telling Congress that it's time they started worrying about working people's wages as much as they worry about their own.