Tell Your Senators to Raise the Minimum Wage
Vote for a clean minimum wage increase now!
"Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter." -- Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
Yes! The Senate has voted to limit debate on whether to raise the minimum wage. Your calls made a difference! Now the Senate must reject harmful amendments, and raise the minimum wage.
That's what every Senator should hear from his/her constituents. Call both your Senators now!
Step 1: Call 1-800-459-1887, toll-free, to be connected to the U.S. Capitol Switchboard.
Step 2: Ask to be connected to your Senator's office. (If you're not sure of his or her name, click here: http://www.senate.gov/ and find your Senators by state at the upper right.)
Step 3: Tell the staffer who answers the phone:
“Please tell Senator ______ to vote “yes” on the bill to increase the minimum wage to $7.25 by 2009. Please - no more delays, no more amendments. Increase the minimum wage bill now!”
Then follow steps 1-3 to call your other Senator.
Why you call matters: Congress raised its own pay $31,000 over the last 10 years, while refusing to raise the minimum wage. Meanwhile, a full-time minimum wage worker earns just $5.15 an hour, or $10,712 a year – nearly $6,000 below the poverty line for a family of three.
The Senate is expected to set a limit on debating H.R. 2, the minimum wage bill, on Tuesday, January 30, and to vote “yes” or “no” on the bill later this week. So far, senators have added a number of amendments, including an $8.3 billion business tax-cut package. While we prefer a clean bill, workers and their families need this raise now, and there is a chance the tax breaks will be stripped away in negotiations with the House.
One thing is clear: No more amendments should be approved in the remaining hours of debate. We don't know exactly which amendments will be offered, but some that have been talked about would lower the minimum wage for farm workers, or end the current assurance of higher overtime pay after a 40-hour week, or attempt piecemeal revisions to our immigration laws. Your call is important to prevent harmful amendments and push the bill to final passage.
Thanks! We hope you’ll take time to lift your voice for justice and fairness today!
The American Friends Service Committee (www.afsc.org/economic-justice/), the Let Justice Roll Living Wage Campaign (www.letjusticeroll.org), and the Coalition on Human Needs (www.chn.org) urge all in their networks to call Congress and to forward this alert. The toll-free number is provided by AFSC, a Quaker organization which welcomes groups to use the number to support work for fair wages and a moral budget and without linking it to language or web sites supporting partisan purposes.
See www.letjusticeroll.org to learn why 1,000 faith leaders support raising the minimum wage. And read a statement of support from hundreds of business owners at www.businessforafairminimumwage.org.
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