Category Archives: Press

By Seth D. Harris, Acting Secretary of Labor for the United States Pattie Federico earns just above the minimum wage working at a local movie theater. And she needs every penny. Like many Americans, she struggles to make ends meet, but Pattie feels like she is falling even further behind. With her current wages, getting […]

President Barack Obama wants to raise the federal minimum wage to $9 per hour. And the CEO of one of America’s largest retailers says such a move would be good for workers and businesses alike. In fact, he says raise it even more. On Tuesday, Costco CEO and President Craig Jelinek came out in support […]

By Shamus Khan In this year’s State of the Union address, President Obama outlined a plan to gradually raise the minimum wage from $7.25 to $9/hour. Raising the minimum wage has always been contentious, but necessary — conservatives should remember that in 2007, President Bush signed a 41% minimum wage hike into law, while Obama’s […]

By Kent Hoover Andy Shallal broke away from the lunchtime crowds at his Busboys and Poets restaurants to go to Capitol Hill and urge Congress to raise the minimum wage. Why would Shallal, who runs five restaurants in the Washington, D.C., area, want to increase labor costs? Well, for starters, raising the minimum wage to […]

By Andrea Germanos The nation’s biggest industry is fostering a low-wage, low-benefit workplace, charges restaurant worker advocate Saru Jayaraman. Co-founder and co-executive director of Restaurant Opportunities Centers (ROC) United and author of the bestselling Behind The Kitchen Door Jayaraman appeared on Up with Chris Hayes on Saturday and brought to light some of conditions that […]

By Nancy Folbre Announcing his support for an increase in the federal minimum wage to $9 an hour, President Obama called attention to the needs of children: “Even with the tax relief we’ve put in place, a family with two kids that earns the minimum wage still lives below the poverty line. That’s wrong.” Read […]