February 13, 2013

Statement By the United Food and Commercial Workers International Union Regarding the Minimum Wage Debate

Washington, D.C. – The following is a statement issued by the United Food and Commercial Workers International Union:

“In his State of the Union Address, President Obama made it clear that raising our country’s federal minimum wage to $9.00 an hour from the current rate of $7.25 was one of his top priorities, and a recent Pew survey has found that his proposal to raise the minimum wage has wide support among the American people.

“Despite widespread public support, President Obama’s push to raise the minimum wage has been opposed by big business and House Republicans, including Speaker John Boehner, who claimed that increasing the minimum wage would hurt our economy.  While raising the minimum wage is not a perfect solution and will not lift all Americans out of poverty, a minimum wage increase would improve the standard of living for millions of American workers and give them the purchasing power that is needed to revive the economy.

“As President Obama noted in his State of the Union address, no American working a full-time job should be living under the poverty line.  The UFCW applauds President Obama’s effort to close the gap between the rich and the poor by raising the minimum wage.  The wasted economic potential of the millions of Americans who are struggling to survive in low-wage sectors is a national tragedy, and our 1.3 million member union will continue to stand with President Obama during the fight to lift American workers out of poverty and provide them with a pathway to the middle class.”

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The United Food and Commercial Workers International Union (UFCW) represents more than 1.3 million workers, primarily in the retail and meatpacking, food processing and poultry industries. The UFCW protects the rights of workers and strengthens America’s middle class by fighting for health care reform, living wages, retirement security, safe working conditions and the right to unionize so that working men and women and their families can realize the American Dream. For more information about the UFCW’s effort to protect workers’ rights and strengthen America’s middle class, http://www.ufcw.org/, or join our online community at http://www.facebook.com/ufcwinternational and https://twitter.com/UFCW.