WHEREAS:
The federal minimum wage was increased for the first time in over a decade from $5.15 to $5.85 in July of 2007 and is scheduled to increase 70 cents each summer until 2009, when all minimum-wage jobs will pay no less than $7.25 an hour; and

WHEREAS:
An estimated 13 million workers, 10 percent of the workforce, rely on the minimum wage; and

WHEREAS:
The average minimum wage worker earns 58 percent of his or her family’s weekly income; and

WHEREAS:
A single parent working 40 hours a week, 52 weeks a year, would earn $12,168 annually at the current minimum wage of $5.85, and still fall below the United States Census Bureau poverty-threshold annual income of $14,291 for one child and $16,705 for two children; andWHEREAS:
Increases in the minimum wage do not reduce employment or job opportunities for young adults and adults without a college education; and

WHEREAS:
Thirty-three states and the District of Columbia have passed minimum wage laws establishing higher wage floors than the federal government; and

WHEREAS:
The minimum wage, unlike Social Security and many tax code provisions, is not required by federal law to be adjusted for inflation every year; and

WHEREAS:
The eroding real value of the minimum wage has steadily decreased the standard of living for low-income workers; and

WHEREAS:
Minimum wages in Arizona, Colorado, Florida, Missouri, Montana, Nevada, Ohio, Oregon and Washington automatically rise with inflation.

THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED:
That AFSCME call upon the United States Congress to take the next step towards improving the wages of working families and index the federal minimum wage for inflation to ensure that a minimum wage provides a living wage.
 
 
SUBMITTED BY: Raglan George, Jr., Executive Director and Delegate
Kim Medina, President and Delegate
AFSCME Council 1707
New York