March 5, 2013

UFCW Supports Harkin-Miller Minimum Wage Bill

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Joe Hansen, International President of the UFCW, today released the following statement in support of a bill introduced by Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee Chairman Tom Harkin (D-IA) and House Education and the Workforce Committee Ranking Member George Miller (D-CA) that would raise the federal minimum wage to $10.10 an hour and index it to inflation.

“CEO pay has risen 725 percent over the last 30 years yet workers making the minimum wage are still living in poverty. This is a national disgrace. Raising the minimum wage and adjusting it to inflation is an important step in helping millions of American workers make ends meet. The real value of the current minimum wage is lower than it was in the 1960’s even as corporate profits are soaring at astronomical rates. This particularly impacts workers in industries like retail with a high proportion of low-wage and part-time jobs. Raising the minimum wage would not only help lift working families out of poverty but also boost our sluggish economic recovery by giving them more purchasing power. This bill is a win-win and Congress should pass it immediately.”

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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, visit www.ufcw.org, or join our online community at www.facebook.com/UFCWinternational and www.twitter.com/ufcw.