PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — Lawmakers and advocates in favor of a state minimum wage increase rallied at Sharon Baptist Church in Philadelphia on Friday, where the last Pennsylvania minimum wage increase was signed into law 15 years ago.
In 2006, then Gov. Ed Rendell raised the minimum wage from $5.15 to $7.15. In 2009, the federal government increased the minimum wage to $7.25 an hour.
Rick Bloomingdale, president of the Pennsylvania AFL-CIO, said in 2021, it should be $15 an hour.
“This fight is about power,” he said. “It’s about those who have it and those who don’t, and somebody’s got to stand up for those who don’t.”
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Fifteen years ago, when state Rep. Joanna McClinton was graduating from Villanova Law School, she worked as a waitress for a tipped wage of $2.83 — a wage that has remained steady for tipped workers.
“And when we think about all the changes that have happened in 15 years, everything else has gone up: the cost of milk, the cost of gas, the cost of day care,” she said.
“When we talk about the minimum wage, we can’t escape the systemic racist history of a minimum wage and especially a tipped wage,” added Pennsylvania House Rep. Donna Bullock. “When we raise the minimum wage, we are telling Pennsylvanians that they matter, their work matters, and for sure they are essential and we are going to pay you as if you are essential.”
John Dodds, director of the Philadelphia Unemployment Project, said the current minimum wage is not enough to keep up with inflation today. If the state wants to keep people from relying on social services, they have to be paid properly for their work, he said.
“We’re not going to get welfare and unemployment, and it’s finally starting to happen a little bit because of the labor shortage in this pandemic,” he added.
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State Sen. Tim Carney said raising wages helps the economy from the ground up because people then have money to spend.
“Cities across the country that have raised the minimum wage locally, we haven’t seen any of the apocalypse coming true,” he noted.
Gov. Tom Wolf said he will sign a bill if it crosses his desk. He agreed that a higher minimum wage will help the economy.
“If it was such a tough thing, why is it that every state surrounding Pennsylvania has raised their minimum wage?” he asked. “In fact, the last time we raise the minimum wage in Pennsylvania, it created more jobs, not fewer jobs.”