$15/hr DC bill gets first hearing

What would a $15-an-hour minimum wage mean to SEIU 32BJ member Syid Abdullah? “It means food. It means rent. It means taking care of my son.” Abdullah was one of more than 150 witnesses yesterday at the D.C. City Council's Committee on Business, Consumer and Regulatory Affairs held its first hearing on Mayor Bowser's legislation to raise the minimum wage to $15 dollars by 2020 and $7.50 by 2022 for tipped workers. "Those who work for a living ought to be able to make a living," said Metro Washington Council executive director Carlos Jimenez, who, with SEIU 32BJ Area Director Jaime Contreras, helped kick off over eight hours of testimony by supporters and opponents of the bill. “We’re asking the city to do the bare minimum by passing the ‘Fair Shot Minimum Wage’," said John Boardman, Executive Secretary-Treasurer of UNITE HERE 25. "Waiting isn’t an option.” UFCW 400's Dyana Forester expressed the hope that passage of the DC bill "would ultimately influence legislators to increase the wage throughout the region.” Other allies, workers, and organizations testifying included DC Working Families, JUFJ, ROC DC, DCFPI, DC JWJ and many others. photo courtesy SEIU 32BJ

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