Workers Rally for Minimum Wage Increase & Paid Sick Days
Tuesday, November 12, 2013
(Metropolitan Washington Council, AFL-CIO)DC low-wage workers and supporters on Friday
rallied in Freedom Plaza to call on the DC
Council to pass a comprehensive bill that will
raise the minimum wage to $12.50 an hour, raise
the tipped minimum wage, and expand DC’s paid
sick days law to cover all workers. They also
delivered testimony they had not been able to
at the 11-hour hearing on October 28th by the
Council’s Committee on Business, Consumer,
and Regulatory Affairs on legislation to reform
the minimum wage and paid sick days laws in DC.
"For the past week, I’ve had a really sore
throat," testified Kathryn Seidewitz. "I had to
work through all of this...I can’t (afford
to) miss even a day of work to recover or go to
the doctor...Healthy, well-paid workers means
better workers and better businesses." Respect
DC Organizer Mike Wilson said that “In an
increasingly expensive city, people are being
forced out of their communities every day as
wages remain the same but the cost of living
skyrockets. It's time to make sure that if you
work in DC, you can afford to live here.”
Supporters can click
here to tell the Council that “DC
Deserves a Raise.” While there was broad
agreement – even from corporate interests --
at the recent hearing that the minimum wage
needs to increase and that tipped restaurant
workers should have access to paid sick days,
“corporate lobby groups are trying to slow
down the process and make sure DC's workers get
as little as possible,” Wilson warned.
photo courtesy @DCJwJ