Key MontCo Committee Sends $11.50 Minimum Wage Bill to County Council

Thursday, November 21, 2013

Key MontCo Committee Sends $11.50 Minimum Wage Bill to County Council(Metropolitan Washington Council, AFL-CIO)A regional minimum wage of $11.50 an hour took a giant step closer to reality Thursday when  Montgomery County Council’s Health and Human Services (HHS) Committee voted out Bill 27-13, which would establish a County minimum wage.  Similar bills are being debated in both the Prince George's County Council and District of Columbia City Council. A vote on Bill 27-13 is set for next Tuesday and at a midday rally of labor, women and community supporters on the County Council's steps Thursday, bill sponsor Marc Elrich said he has the five votes needed for passage. "This is an important moment for Montgomery County," Elrich said, remembering how "I used to watch kids come in hungry" when he was a teacher. "We shouldn't be asking people to contribute cans of food in a school...we need to address this issue with (higher) wages." National Organization for Women President Terry O'Neill -- a Montgomery County resident -- noted that “two-thirds of minimum wage workers are women, but minimum wage workers don’t get a pension, don’t have 401K’s, don’t have health care paid for by their employers,” yet working women’s income “is crucial to Montgomery County families,” she said. Co-sponsors Nancy Navarro and Valerie Ervin also spoke strongly in favor of increasing the minimum wage at the rally, as did George Leventhal, who pledged his support for the bill. "This is a good start," said MCGEO/UFCW 1994 president Gino Renne. "If people don't have money, the economy will never grow."
- report/photo by Chris Garlock

 

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