John,

In 2009, Congress increased the federal minimum wage to $7.25 per hour for non-tipped workers and $2.13 per hour for tipped workers. Those wages were not enough to live on then, and now? After 14 years, it’s a national embarrassment.

Raising the federal minimum wage to $15 an hour isn’t just the morally right thing to do -- it’s politically popular. In the last 20 years, 100% of statewide ballot initiatives to raise the minimum wage have won, regardless of the political leanings of the state.¹

Raising the minimum wage to $15 an hour would raise the earnings of 32 million workers and immediately lift 3.7 million people out of poverty -- including 1.3 million children. While 30 states plus D.C. have raised their minimum wage above the stingy federal level, millions of people live in right-wing states where fairness won’t come unless the federal government finally does the right thing.

Click here to tell Congress to raise the federal minimum wage to $15 an hour and lift millions of people out of poverty.

Inflation is hitting working people hard, and no one feels it more than the 40% of Americans who work a low-wage job. Poverty wages harm women and people of color the most. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, nearly two-thirds of workers earning at or near the federal minimum wage are women -- disproportionately Black and Latina women.

We deserve a government that works for the majority of the people, not just the wealthy few.

In 2021, President Biden took action to bypass Congress and raise the minimum wage for federal contractors to $15 per hour, including tipped workers. But the President can only raise wages for these specific workers. It will take Congress to enact a nationwide raise.  

Workers in the U.S. need and deserve relief -- they deserve a government that will put their interests first, above corporate profits and high-paid lobbyists.

Take action today to demand Congress put people before profits and raise the federal minimum wage to $15 an hour.

Thank you for all you do to support America’s workers,

Deborah Weinstein
Executive Director, Coalition on Human Needs

¹ Outcomes of minimum wage measures, 1996-2021