Brown Urges Statewide Mobilization on Minimum Wage

"A HARD DAY'S WORK SHOULD MEAN A FAIR DAY'S PAY"

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Saturday, April 1, 2006

ASHTABULA--Congressman Sherrod Brown (D-Lorain County) today called for an unprecedented grassroots mobilization to put the minimum wage increase proposal on the Ohio ballot and to vote it into law. Speaking at a town hall meeting organized by an array of Ashtabula political and civic organizations, Brown described the minimum wage increase as critical to expanding social and economic justice.

"Raising the Ohio minimum wage will help more than 700,000 Ohioans -- 250,000 of them children," said Brown. "It is unacceptable that someone can work full time -- and work hard -- and not be able to lift their family out of poverty."

Ohio's minimum wage currently stands at $4.25 an hour, nearly a dollar lower than the federal minimum wage of $5.15 an hour. The Ohio Fair Minimum Wage Amendment would raise it to $6.85 an hour beginning in January 2007, and would index it to keep up with inflation.

"Last year, the CEO of ExxonMobile earned about $13,700 an hour," said Brown. "An Ohioan earning the federal minimum wage, working full time, earned $10,500 in the course of the entire year."

The town hall was part of a week of events planned across Ohio to launch a major organizing push around the minimum wage ballot initiative. The town hall's sponsors included the Ashtabula County Women Democrats, Ashtabula County AFL-CIO, Ashtabula County NAACP, AFSCME United, BMWE, Young Democrats of Ashtabula, United Steelworkers of America, and the Ashtabula-Geauga-Lake Counties Farmers Union.

For the minimum wage amendment to earn a place on the November 2006 ballot, its supporters must collect 322,899 valid signatures from registered Ohio voters by August 9.

"A hard day's work should mean a fair day's pay," Brown said. "Thousands of Ohio families are going deeper and deeper in debt just trying to pay their heating bills, fill prescriptions, and buy groceries. The current minimum wage is simply not enough."

Due to inflation, the federal minimum wage now has less purchasing power than at any time in the last fifty years.

"2006 is about change in Ohio," Brown said. "This year, we are going to take our government out of the hands of corporate special interests and put it back into the hands of Ohio families--where it belongs."

Editors -- please find a copy of Brown's remarks to follow

Congressman Sherrod Brown
Ohio Fair Minimum Wage Amendment

I wear on my lapel not the congressional symbol, but a pin depicting a canary in a bird cage.

I`ve worn this for about five years; but recently, it's taken on new meaning.

I know many of you remember that mine workers used to take the canary down in the mines, and if a canary died from lack of oxygen or toxic gas, the mine worker knew he had to get out of the mine.

A hundred years ago, in those days, the mine worker had no labor unions strong enough to protect him, had no government that cared enough to protect him, so he was on his own.

Workers organized and fought for worker rights and food safety, Social Security and Medicare - they fought to change government. And they won.

It is time, once again, for workers, activists, churches, and community leaders to band together in the name of social and economic justice.

Dr. Martin Luther King once said - "Equality means dignity. And dignity demands a job and a paycheck that lasts through the week."

This year the fight for equality in Ohio will manifest itself in the fight to raise the minimum wage.

I stood with you to beat Social Security privatization, I stood with you fighting Medicare privatization, I stood with you fighting NAFTA and CAFTA, and I stand with you now.

Ohio is one of only two states that have a minimum wage below the federal level of $5.15 an hour.

And we all know that $5.15 is not enough to live on these days.

Anyone who's tried to pay a heating bill, fill a prescription, or simply buy groceries knows all too well that the current minimum wage does not cut the mustard.

Raising the minimum wage is a fairness issue, because inflation has consistently eroded the real value of an hour's work in America.

The average family earning minimum wage spends 141 percent of their income struggling to meet basic needs - food, shelter, clothing.

And you heard me correctly. 141 percent.

That is why most families earning minimum wage have credit card balances of more than $6,000 - and why they are more vulnerable to things like bankruptcy.

The current minimum wage simply is not supporting Ohio's working families.

Raising the minimum wage means raising the living wage - and that's good news for Ohio.

The last time Ohio's minimum wage was increased, Bush senior was in the White House, Mariah Carey won Best New Artist, and Michael Jordan led the Chicago bulls to their first NBA championship.

With your help, this year we will get the minimum wage initiative on the ballot and send a message that Ohio values workers.

It is unacceptable that someone can work full time -  and work hard - and not be able to lift themselves out of poverty.

It is shameful when you consider that while the minimum wage has failed to keep up with the cost of living - forcing more and more Ohio families into poverty - CEO salaries have skyrocketed.

For example - last year, the CEO of Wal-Mart earned $3,500 an hour.

The CEO of Halliburton earned about $8,300 an hour.

And The CEO of ExxonMobile earned about $13,700 an hour.

That's an hour.

Last year, an Ohioan earning the federal minimum wage - which is higher than Ohio's minimum wage - working full time, earned $10,500 a year.

That's a year.

Raising the minimum wage means investing in Ohio families, and in Ohio communities.

It means acknowledging that a hard day's work should mean a fair day's pay.

Raising the Ohio minimum wage will help more than 700,000 Ohioans - 250,000 of them children.

Indexing the minimum wage to keep up with inflation will ensure that Ohio families can move toward economic opportunity and independence.

The canary in the cage reminds us that all the major advances in our country secured by the American worker were opposed by big business and industry - and politicians in Washington beholden to them.

It was people just like you that united to fight for social and economic justice.

They forced government to change.

And this year, we will do it again.

We need 322,899 signatures to get the minimum wage initiative on the ballot.

This initiative is a top priority for my campaign, as it is for Democratic candidates running for office throughout Ohio.

And clearly, it is a major priority for you.

Your attendance here today shows that you are committed to helping change Ohio this year.

I applaud your efforts.

We need everyone to carry petitions with them everywhere they go.

We need you to talk to your neighbors, your friends, and your families.

Talk to them about the minimum wage and talk to them about being part of changing Ohio.

We are in this together, and together we are going to effect change.

This year, we are going to take our government out of the hands of corporate special interests and put it back into the hands of Ohio families.

Where it belongs. Thank you.

04/03/2006 / Permalink / Economy, Minimum Wage, (all tags)