The War For A Higher Minimum Wage Kicks Into High Gear

Two years ago, the first grumblings of an organized movement to raise the minimum wage began to assert itself and, since that time, the struggle to raise minimum wages across the nation has gained momentum. In the beginning, it seemed a successful campaign to raise minimum wages was an impossible task. The goals of these small pockets of protesters and campaigners seemed unattainable. Still, they struggled, dedicating all that they could to achieving success, while recruiting others to their cause. Little more than two years later, the movements have won their struggles in many states and things look promising in many other states.

The movement, known as Fight For $15 in many areas, started with restaurant workers, primarily low-paid employees from the fast food chains, but, since that time, has grown to include airport workers (baggage handlers, airplane cleaners, and wheelchair attendants), retail workers, and home care workers.

“These are all some of the fastest-growing occupations in the country, and they’re also some of the lowest-paying, as little as $8 or $9 an hour in terms of the median wage in these occupations. These are struggles these workers are facing across these industries — they’re facing the same struggle for respect and decent schedules with advance notice and enough hours to make a decent living,” said Arun Ivatury, the National Employment Law Project’s campaign strategist.

The low-paying jobs are now flourishing throughout the nation’s communities chiefly because they cannot be outsourced. While there is still a long battle ahead for those struggling to raise the minimum wage, the successes already achieved cannot be denied. The largest gains came in Seattle and San Francisco, both cities having voted to increase the minimum wage to $15 per hour on a gradually increasing scale. Oakland also raised its minimum wage up to $12.25 per hour, while Portland, Maine, and Louisville, Kentucky, are all considering a minimum wage hike to ten dollars per hour, reports Forbes.

In Chicago, it seems protesters are refusing to settle for anything less than a $15 per hour minimum wage. Although the city council voted to raise their minimum wage up to $13 per hour by the year 2019, workers are petitioning the Illinois General Assembly to take this success further with a $15 per hour minimum wage for the entire state. This course of action may take longer. The Illinois Senate did vote for a minimum wage raise to $11 per hour but the state’s House of Representatives adjourned without addressing the matter. CBS News reports that the vote will have to wait until next year, after a new General Assembly is sworn in.

The battle for higher wages is far from over for those involved in the struggle, but they are only growing stronger and success seems inevitable at this point, in spite of it seeming utterly impossible just two years ago.

More news on the minimum wage struggle can be found in an earlier Inquisitr article.