ROSLYN, Dec. 1, 2014 − Citing strong public support and successful efforts in surrounding states, state Sen. Art Haywood said today he would begin the 2015-2016 legislative session by pushing for a vote to increase in Pennsylvania’s long-dormant minimum wage.
“Pennsylvania workers are being shortchanged by a lack of political courage in the General Assembly,” he said. “Every day minimum wage workers see their buying power eroded by inflation and that hurts families and the communities where they live.”
Numerous bills were introduced in the previous session targeted at updating Pennsylvania’s 2005 minimum wage bill, but none received a floor vote.
“I don’t think it’s too much to ask for our elected officials — who receive statutory cost-of-living increases — to vote up or down on likewise adjusting the minimum wage,” Haywood said. “Polls show that the public supports a fair wage and the incoming governor was elected by a wide margin supporting it. Working families deserve the courage of a vote.”
Haywood said the argument by opponents of fair wages that minimum wage increases cost jobs has been debunked by Pennsylvania’s Minimum Wage Advisory Board which, since 2005, has been tracking the effect of the state’s minimum wage on workers and businesses.
“The advisory board has now done eight reports – 100,000 words covering 400 pages —
And there is not one word saying raising the minimum wage costs jobs,” Haywood said. “The board’s work is conclusive that fair minimum wages have no measurable effect on jobs, but an enormous effect on poverty.”
Haywood said he would support legislation that would eliminate Pennsylvania’s so-called “tipped” minimum wage as well.
“There is no place for a second class of workers that rely on the mood of customers to nose above the poverty line,” he said. “The restaurant industry is thriving in numerous states that have no lower class of workers and Pennsylvania should move into the 21st century.”
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