A Day’s Work Deserves a Fair Wage

On August 28th and 29th, Sherrod met with labor leaders, workers, and members of the faith community to rally support for increasing the state minimum wage.
 
Congress hasn't raised the minimum wage in ten years but has passed pay raises for its members six times.  On the ballot this November, Ohio voters will have the opportunity to step up where Congressional Republicans have failed and raise the state minimum wage.  Workers and members of the faith community are knocking on doors across Ohio to ensure that low-income families struggling to pay their bills get a much needed boost on Election Day.
 
Monday's event took place at the Trinity Cathedral in Cleveland.  Sherrod was joined by Rev. Karl Weiser, waitress Jasmine Torres, Democratic State Senate Leader CJ Prentiss, and U.S. Senator Charles E. Schumer.  Sherrod was greeted by rousing applause from the workers, seniors, and parishioners.  The call to raise the minimum wage echoed through the Cathedral's historic chamber.  USA Today reporter Susan Page wrote about the event and the economic troubles that have faced Ohioans under GOP leadership.
 
Jasmine Torres spoke about her struggle to work a minimum wage job, raise a child, and attend two different schools at the same time.  She said raising the minimum wage would provide tangible benefits for her life and her family's future.  Rev. Weiser said paying those who work with a livable wage was a matter of justice.
 
In Toledo on Tuesday, Sherrod met with workers at the Building and Construction Trades Council to continue his fight to raise the minimum wage.  The workers at this labor hall played a critical role in getting enough signatures to get the wage initiative on the ballot.

09/04/2006 / Permalink / Minimum Wage, (all tags)

Brown, Schumer Call for a Fair Minimum Wage

DeWine has voted against raising minimum wage at least nine times

CLEVELAND, OH -- U.S. Representative Sherrod Brown (D-OH) was joined today by Senator Charles E. Schumer (D-NY), State Senator C.J. Prentiss, members of the faith community, and low-wage workers to call on Ohioans to raise the minimum wage this November.  During the past ten years Incumbent Republican Senator Mike DeWine has voted against raising the minimum wage at least nine times.

"As the cost of tuition, energy, and health care has skyrocketed for working families, Congressional Republicans have failed to raise the minimum wage," said Brown. "Senator DeWine voted to provide billions of dollars in subsidies to the oil and drug industry but voted against raising the minimum wage.  In November, Ohioans will have the opportunity to elect new leadership that puts working families first and to raise the minimum wage to benefit more than 700,000 Ohioans."

As wages for working families have remained stagnant, executive compensation has skyrocketed and Congress has rewarded its own members but not American workers.  A minimum wage worker in Ohio makes less than $11,000 a year.  The CEOs of Halliburton and Exxon Mobil earned $8,300 and $17,000 per hour respectively last year.  While it has failed to raise the minimum wage during the past ten years, the GOP Congress has passed six pay raises for its members. 

"Minimum wage workers in Ohio barely earn in a year what today's CEOs reap in an hour," added Brown.  "For the past decade, Senator DeWine and Congressional Republicans showered tax breaks and subsidies on corporations that earned record profits but have left working families behind.  It's time for a new direction in Ohio where work pays a fair wage again."  

An initiative will be on the ballot in Ohio this November that would raise the minimum wage from $5.15 to $6.85 per hour starting January 1, 2007. The minimum wage will increase every year if the cost of living rises.

08/28/2006 / Permalink / Minimum Wage, (all tags)

News Coverage: Minimum Wage Event in Cleveland

08/28/2006 / Permalink / Minimum Wage, Video, (all tags)

Democrats might ride coattails of Ohio minimum-wage proposal

Issue could alter Ohio's political picture

From Cleveland Plain Dealer:

It's the ace up the Democrats' sleeve.
That's what some say about the drive to raise Ohio's minimum wage.

If labor and anti-poverty groups can get that issue on the November ballot, some political experts contend, Democratic voters will be much more likely to go to the polls. They will pick their party's candidates to serve as governor and U.S. senator and in a fistful of other key positions. And, in the process, they'll wrest political control of Ohio -- maybe even the U.S. Senate -- from a Republican Party hampered by scandal and a president with a historically low approval rating.

...U.S. Rep. Ted Strickland, the Democratic nominee for governor, and U.S. Rep. Sherrod Brown, who's running for Republican Mike DeWine's U.S. Senate seat, are both campaigning on the issue.

"I certainly am a strong supporter of the effort to increase the minimum wage," says Strickland, of Lucasville. "But I'm not doing that as a political strategy. I'm doing it because I think it's the moral thing to do.

"When people work hard and are struggling just to survive in this economy, it seems to me very defensible, absolutely the right thing to do, to support efforts to make sure that they get this increase in their wages."

Brown, of Avon, shares his view.
"I'm using it because it's a way to empower low-income people to improve their lives," he said. "I don't have any idea if it's going to help our campaign."

Click here to read the full article.

06/11/2006 / Permalink / Economy, Jobs, Minimum Wage, (all tags)

$13,700 An Hour

From The Nation:

EDITOR'S CUT: Katrina vanden Heuvel

Last Sunday, the New York Times reported that - for the first time - a full-time worker earning minimum wage cannot afford a one-bedroom apartment anywhere in America at market rates. That means more and more people like Michelle Kennedy - a former Senate page and author of Without a Net: Middle Class and Homeless (with Kids) in America - are finding themselves homeless and living out of their cars.

At a town hall meeting in Ohio last Saturday, Rep. Sherrod Brown of Ohio - (he and Bernie Sanders are the two best candidates running for Senate in 2006) -- a staunch advocate for social and economic rights - railed against stagnant wages' contribution to economic hardship. "It is unacceptable that someone can work full-time - and work hard - and not be able to lift their family out of poverty." He blasted a system where a full-time worker making the minimum wage earns $10,500 annually, while "... 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 ExxonMobil earned about $13,700 an hour."

Click here to read the full article.

04/07/2006 / Permalink / Economy, Minimum Wage, (all tags)

Sherrod Kicks Off Statewide Campaign to Raise Ohio Minimum Wage

Ashtabula Town Hall

Sherrod kicked off a statewide campaign to raise Ohio minimum wage at a town hall meeting in Ashtabula last Saturday.

Ohio is one of only two states with a minimum wage below the federal level of $5.15. an hour.  A coalition of Ohio organizations and grassroots activists have launched a drive to put minimum wage on the ballot this November.

"It's shameful that the minimum wage has failed to keep up with the cost of living while CEO salaries have skyrocketed," Sherrod told the 200 Ashtabula residents.

"The CEO of ExxonMobile earned about $13,700 an hour," Sherrod said. "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."

The crowd demonstrated their support with hearty applause throughout the event, and by filling up dozens of volunteer sheets for both the minimum wage initiative, and Sherrod's campaign for the U.S. Senate.

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

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."

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

Brown Urges Statewide Mobilization on Minimum Wage

COLUMBUS--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 meeting organized by the AFL-CIO, 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."

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