Obama Statement on the Increase in the Minimum Wage
Tuesday, July 24, 2007
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT: Ben LaBolt
WASHINGTON, DC -- U.S. Senator Barack Obama (D-IL) today released the following statement on today’s increase in the federal minimum wage:
“Today, America’s lowest paid workers will receive their first raise in ten years. This increase was long overdue. We stood up to corporate special interests that wanted to deny hard working Americans the basic dignity of a small increase in pay. Americans are rightly cynical about a Congress that fails to increase pay at the bottom of the wage ladder even as it raises its own pay and cuts taxes for the wealthy.”
“I will work to make sure Washington represents the national interest instead of the special interests. Collective bargaining and the right to organize should be guaranteed for every working American. And we must tie future increases in the minimum wage to inflation so that it grows along with the costs those workers face. We need to make the minimum wage a living wage that helps American families not just survive, but succeed.”