Obama Urges Congress to Increase the Minimum Wage
Against opposition in the House and Senate, the president on Saturday lent his voice to the cause of increasing the federal minimum wage from $7.25 to $10.10 an hour.
Against opposition in the House and Senate, the president on Saturday lent his voice to the cause of increasing the federal minimum wage from $7.25 to $10.10 an hour.
The Guardian reports:
Obama’s address came a day after new figures showed that the US added 175,000 jobs in February, a larger rise than had been expected, but also that the unemployment rate rose to 6.7%.
With the 2014 midterm elections in mind, Democrats and Republicans are targeting those who are not doing so well out of the general if slow national economic recovery.
Citing a number of large and small businesses he said had raised wage payments voluntarily and without “waiting for Congress to make up its mind” – including two giants, Gap and Costco – Obama said: “I agree with these business owners, which is why I issued an executive order requiring federal contractors to pay their employees a fair wage of at least $10.10 an hour.
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— Posted by Alexander Reed Kelly.
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