PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — Democrats in the Pennsylvania State Legislature are joining Governor Tom Wolf in the push for a minimum wage increase in the state.
The Wolf administration is pushing for a $12 hourly minimum wage, with a plan to get to $15 by 2027.
“Too many workers including healthcare and essential employees, and restaurant workers are earning poverty wages while putting themselves as risk to keep our society running," said Acting Labor and Industry Secretary Jennifer Berrier.
“We all know it’s not fair.”
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Philadelphia State Representative Malcolm Kenyatta called the current $7.25 an hour minimum wage a “starvation wage.”
“That’s about $15,000 a year. When you take the taxes out of that, you’re talking significantly under that. That is not fair and we all know it," he said.
“This is a ridiculous debate that we have had session after session after session about doing right by the Pennsylvania worker.”
Reading State Representative Manuel Guzman said that not only is an increased minimum wage more fair, it’s also a way to spark struggling neighborhoods or regions.
“By putting more money in the hands of working class families in my district and all across the commonwealth, that puts more money in our local economies," said Guzman.
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Mayra, a mushroom worker in Kennett Square originally from Guatamala, makes less than the living wage.
She said through a translator that she fled violence in her country, and is thankful to be here. She kept going to work during the pandemic, as she was considered an essential worker.
“During the last year, I’ve worked knowing I was putting my health and my families health at risk," Mayra explained.
"Yet we still don’t get a living wage.”
The Wolf administration has been unsuccessfully pushing for a $15 hourly minimum wage for years.
Guzman says he believes there is some willingness for at least some increase from the Republican side of the aisle.