For Immediate Release
Thursday, May 23, 1996
Minimum Wage: Statement by Gerald W. McEntee, President, American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME), AFL-CIO
"The men and women who work hard every day and who earn the minimum wage finally got some welcome news from Washington today. The House of Representatives -- after several weeks of being tied up in knots over increasing the minimum wage -- finally did the right thing for the American people and voted in favor of the increase.
"This increase -- ninety cents over two years -- may not seem like a lot to some members of Congress, but the American labor movement has listened to scores of hardworking families who have gone to great pains to explain how much even a modest increase would mean to them.
"Even more heartening is that small business employees have not been excluded from the minimum wage increase. Some top-ranking Republicans did their best to let small business owners off the hook when it came to paying their employees a decent wage, but we're happy to see that reason and justice eventually prevailed. Now all workers -- even those working for small business owners -- will benefit. This modest increase will provide a much needed boost to families living at or near the poverty level.
"This morning at the AFL-CIO -- before the House vote -- there was a battle of words over the minimum wage between working men and women and some House Republicans. We told those freshman House Republicans that their opposition to a modest minimum wage increase was unfair, mean spirited and out of touch with what Americans have said they want: a decent wage for all workers.
"AFSCME is heartened that the American people have prevailed in their strong support for increasing the minimum wage."
