Michigan's minimum wage needs a raise; here's how you can help
Date Posted: March 3 2006
LANSING - The Michigan AFL-CIO is leading an effort that requires people power more than anything else - a push to gather at least 320,000 petition signatures aimed at getting a minimum wage increase on the Nov. 7, 2006 statewide ballot.
The state minimum wage is $5.15 per hour - an amount that hasn't changed since 1996. The ballot proposal would raise the minimum wage to $6.85 per hour, and would index future wage increases to the inflation rate, increase fines for employers who violate the wage law, and prevent employers from firing workers who file a claim against employers for violating the minimum wage law.
Six pending Democrat-sponsored bills would do all that legislatively, but state Republicans lawmakers, who control the state House and Senate, have shown no inclination to adopt any of them.
The state AFL-CIO is asking workers to go online to www.mineedsaraise.org or call (800) 684-1262 and order the petitions. Then during "Take Your Petition to Work Week" from March 6-10, take them to work sites and ask co-workers to fill them out during breaks.
John Freeman, a former Democratic state representative, is heading the Michigan Needs a Raise Committee.
"With the minimum wage now at $5.15 per hour, some people would make more money being on welfare," he said. "Raising the minimum wage sends the right message - we value hard work. This proposal allows people to choose work over welfare and be productive members of society."
According to the state AFL-CIO, Michigan voters by nearly a 3-to-1 margin support a $2.00 per hour raise in the minimum wage over the next two of years, citing a recent Inside Michigan Politics poll.