The undersigned organizations enthusiastically support the Raise the Wage Act of 2019, as introduced by Senators Bernie Sanders (VT) and Patty Murray (WA), Representatives Robert C. “Bobby” Scott (VA), Mark Pocan (WI) and Stephanie Murphy (FL).
If enacted, this legislation would:
- Raise the federal minimum wage to $8.55 this year and increase it over the next five years until it reaches $15 an hour in 2024;
- After 2024, adjust the minimum wage each year to keep pace with growth in the typical worker’s wages;
- Phase out the outdated subminimum wage for tipped workers, which has been frozen at a meager $2.13 since 1991; and,
- Sunset the much criticized ability of employers to pay workers with disabilities a subminimum wage through certificates issued by DOL.
- Phase out the subminimum wage for workers under the age of 20.
At a time when wage stagnation and income inequality pose serious threats to our families and our economy, the Raise the Wage Act of 2019 will begin to reverse that cycle and raise pay broadly across the bottom of the workforce. According to the Economic Policy Institute, this Act will deliver long-overdue raises to more than 1 in 4 workers, 90% of whom are over the age of 20. The average age of workers who would get a raise is 35, and nearly half have some years of college education. In fact, those who work year-round would see a raise in the order of $3,000 a year, which is enough to make a tremendous difference in the life of a preschool teacher, bank teller, or fast-food worker who today struggles to get by on around $20,000 per year.
28 percent are working parents with children, and half have family incomes of less than $40,000 per year. Women make up nearly 58 percent of the workers who would benefit from a $15 minimum wage, which would be instrumental in helping to close the gender-wage-gap. Raising the minimum wage to $15 would also significantly benefit workers of color, with 38 percent of African American workers and 33 percent of Latinos seeing a pay increase once this law goes into effect.
These are the frontline workers who make America run—yet due to the erosion of the real value of the minimum wage over the last half century, they are struggling even as our economy enjoys a solid recovery.
The time for the Raise the Wage Act is long overdue, and we cannot delay in working toward its passage. We call on Congress to enact this important piece of legislation as quickly as possible, and for President Trump to sign it when it comes to his desk.
Economic Policy Institute
National Employment Law Project
9to5
A Better Balance
A Place at the Table
AAUW Texas
Abortion Care Network
ACCESS Women’s Health Justice
Accessible Housing Resources, Inc. (AHRI)
Action Inc.
Action Together NEPA
ADAPT Montana
Advocate For Justice Inc.
Advocates for Youth
AFL-CIO
African American Ministers In Action
Agape Missions, NFP
AIDS Alabama South, LLC
Alabama Arise
Alameda County Community Food Bank
Alianza Nacional de Campesinas, Inc.
All Our Kin
Allegheny Valley Association of Churches
All-Options
Amara Legal Center
American Association of People with Disabilities
American Association of University Women
American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees (AFSCME)
American Federation of Teachers, AFL-CIO
American Federation of Teachers, Washington
American Postal Workers Union – St Louis Gateway District Area Local
American Psychological Association
American Public Health Association
Americans for Democratic Action (ADA)
Anne Arundel County NOW
Appalachian Independence Center, Inc.
Arizona Center for Economic Progress
Arkansas Advocates for Children and Families
Asian Law Alliance
Asian Pacific American Labor Alliance, AFL-CIO
Association of Programs for Rural Independent Living
Association of U.S. Catholic Priests (AUSCP)
ATD Fourth World Movement
Atlanta Community Food Bank
AtWork!
AUSCP – Association of U.S. Catholic Priests
Autistic Self Advocacy Network
Autistic Women & Nonbinary Network
Bazelon Center for Mental Health Law
Bend the Arc: Jewish Action
Benedictine Sisters of Erie
Black AIDS Institute
Black Women’s Roundtable
Bread for the World
Bucks County Women’s Advocacy Coalition
CA Capital Chapter – Coalition of Labor Union Women
California Employment Lawyers Association
California Food Policy Advocates
Cambridge United for Justice with Peace
Campaign for America’s Future
Campesinos Sin Fronteras
CAP Services, Inc./Community Assets for People
CARECEN-Central American Resource Center
Caring Across Generations
CASA
CASA of Oregon
Catalyst for Positive Change!
Catholic Charities of Chemung/Schuyler counties, NY
Center for Changing Lives
Center for Groveport Madison Human Needs
Center for Independence of the Disabled, NY
Center for Law and Social Policy (CLASP)
Center for New York City Affairs at The New School
Center for Popular Democracy Action
Center for Public Policy Priorities
Center for Public Representation
Centro de los Derechos del Migrante, Inc.
ChangeLab Solutions
Chester County Food Bank
Chicago Chapter of RESULTS, Domestic
Chicago Jobs Council
Chicago Women’s AIDS Project
Child Care Resources
Children’s Defense Fund
Children’s Advocacy Institute
Church World Service
Cities of Peace Detroit
Civil Liberties and Public Policy Program
Cleveland Nonviolence Network
CLUW of Southwestern PA
CLUW: NORTHEAST CLEVELAND CHAPTER
Coalition Ending Gender-Based Violence
Coalition for Low Income Pennsylvanians
Coalition of Black Trade Unionist -Northern California
Coalition of Labor Union Women
Coalition of Labor Union Women GPA
Coalition on Human Needs
Collaborative Center for Justice
Collin County Democrats With Disabilities (CCDWD)
Collin County Voters With Disabilities
Colorado Center on Law and Policy
Colorado Coalition for the Homeless
Communications Workers of America (CWA)
Communities Creating Opportunity
Community Action Agency of Somerville, Inc.
Community Action Partnership, NJ
Community Advocates of Northern Indiana
Community Labor United
Community Reinvestment Alliance of South Florida
Congregation Beth El, Berkeley
Congregation of Our Lady of Charity of the Good Shepherd, US Provinces
Congregation of Our Lady of the Good Shepherd, US Provinces
Congregation of Sisters of St. Agnes
Congregation of the Infant Jesus Nursing Sisters of the Sick Poor,Inc.
Connecticut Association for Human Services, Inc
Connecticut Legal Services, Inc.
Connecticut Voices for Children
Cronucopia Community Advocates
CWA Local 6450
D.C. Hunger Solutions
Dakota Prairie Community Action Agency
DC KinCare Alliance
DC Language Access Coalition
DC Law Students in Court
DC Volunteer Lawyers Project
DCAEHS, Inc.
Delaware Ecumenical Council on Children and Families
Demos
Disability Law Center
Disability Rights Education & Defense Fund (DREDF)
Disability Voters of Maine
Disabled in Action of Greater Syracuse Inc.
Disciples Center for Public Witness (Disciples of Christ)
Disciples Justice Action Network
Dominican Development Center, Inc.
Dominican Sisters ~ Grand Rapids
Dominican Sisters of Houston
DV LEAP
East Central Illinois Community Action Agency
East Hampton Housing Authority
EcoC2S
Economic Opportunity Institute
Economic Progress Institute
Economic Roundtable
Ecumenical Poverty Initiative
Educate. Advocate.
Education Equals Making Community Connections
Equal Pay Today
Equal Rights Advocates
Equality California
Equality North Carolina
Estreet Verdors Assiotation Of Chicago (SVAC)
Faith Voices Arkansas
Family Promise of Greater Des Moines
Family Promise of Knoxville
Family Values@Work
Farmworker Association of Florida
Feeding Texas
Feminist Majority
First Christian Church
First Focus Campaign for Children
First United Methodist Church
Florida Impact
Food Chain Workers Alliance
Food Finders Food Bank
Food Lifeline
Food Research & Action Center (FRAC)
For Our Future PA
Freedom Network USA
Futures Without Violence
GCC/IBT Local 24M/9N
Gender Justice
GLBTQ Legal Advocates & Defenders (GLAD)
Global Justice Institute, Metropolitan Community Churches
Godwin-Ternbach Museum, Queens College, CUNY
Good Jobs Nation
GRANDS AS PARENTS INC
Greater Kansas City Coalition of Labor Union Women
Greater New Jersey CLUW Chapter
Greater Oklahoma City Chapter CLUW
Greater Pittsburgh Community Food Bank
Grey Nuns of the Sacred Heart
H.O.P.E.
HANA Center
Hawaii Appleseed
Head Start
Headstart
HEAL Trafficking
Healthy and Free Tennessee
HEAR US Inc.
Hill Snowdon Foundation
Hispanic Federation
Holy Cross Ministries
Housing Authority of the County of Lawrence
Housing Choice Partners
Howard Brown Health
Hudson County Housing Resource Center
Humanity
Hunger Action Network of NYS
Hunger Free Vermont
Hunger Solutions New York
Idaho Interfaith Roundtable Against Hunger
IHM Sisters IHM Sisters Justice, Peace and Sustainability Office
Illinois Hunger Coalition
Illinois Collaboration on Youth
Impact Fund
In Our Own Voice: National Black Women’s Reproductive Justice Agenda
Indiana Community Action Association
Indiana Institute for Working Families
Indivisible Michigan 8th-Ingham
Inspirational Gospel Assembly
Interfaith Impact of New York State
Interfaith Worker Justice
International Labor Rights Forum
International Union, United Automobile, Aerospace, and Agricultural Implement Workers of America, UAW
Iowa Citizens for Community Improvement
Iowa Coalition Against Domestic Violence
Jackson State University
Jewish Women International
Jobs with Justice
Just Harvest: A Center for Action Against Hunger
Justice and Advocacy Committee of the Lehigh Conference of Churches
Justice for Migrant Women
Kalamazoo Loaves & Fishes
Kansas Association of Community Action Programs
Kentucky Equal Justice Center
Kentucky State AFL-CIO
Keystone Progress
Keystone Research Center
Kings Local Food Pantry
Korean Resource Center
KWH Law Center for Social Justice and Change
La Frontera Ministries
La Plata County Thrive! Living Wage Coalition
Labor Education Program, School of Labor and Employment Relations, University of Illinois
Lamoille Family Center
Law Foundation of Silicon Valley
Law Students in Court
Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law
Leadership Conference of Women Religious
The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights
Leadership Team, Sisters of the Presentations
Legal Aid at Work
Legal Aid Service of Broward County
Legal Momentum: The Women’s Legal Defense and Education Fund
Legal Voice
Let Justice Roll: Living Wage Campaign
Lincoln Hills Development Corporation
LiveWell Colorado
Long Beach Gray Panthers
Los Angeles Alliance for a New Economy
Louisiana Budget Project
Louisiana Progress Action
Main Street Alliance
Maine Coalition to End Domestic Violence
Maine Women’s Lobby
Mainers for Accountable Leadership
Make the Road PA
Maryland Center on Economic Policy
Maryland Hunger Solutions
Maryland National Organization for Women
Massachusetts Law Reform Institute
Maternal and Child Health Access
MCCC/MTA
Men of All Colors Together (MACT)/Phila.
Mercyhaven Inc.
Methodist Federation for Social Action
Metro-Detroit Chapter of the Coalition of Labor Union Women (CLUW)
Metropolitan Community Church of Washington, D.C.
Metropolitan Washington Employment Lawyers Association
Michigan League for Public Policy
Michigan’s Children
Middlesex Coalition for Children
Milwaukee Area Service & Hospitality Workers Organization
Minnesota Coalition for the Homeless
Mississippi Families for Kids
Mississippi Low Income Child Care Initiative
Missouri CLUW Chapter
MomsRising
Mountain State Justice
MWC, AFL-CIO
NAACP
NARAL Pro-Choice North Carolina
Nashua Soup Kitchen and Shelter
National Advocacy Center of the Sisters of the Good Shepherd
National Asian Pacific American Women’s Forum (NAPAWF)
National Association of Social Workers
National Association of Social Workers – NJ Chapter
National Association of Social Workers Connecticut Chapter
National Association of Social Workers, West Virginia Chapter
National Association of the Deaf
National Black Justice Coalition
National Black Sisters’ Conference
National Center for Lesbian Rights
National Center for Transgender Equality
National Center on Domestic and Sexual Violence
National Coalition for the Homeless
National Consumers League
National Council of Churches
National Council of Jewish Women
National Council of Jewish Women – PA
National Council of Jewish Women – Texas
National Council of Jewish Women – Florida
National Disability Rights Network
National Domestic Workers Alliance
National Education Association
National Employment Lawyers Association
National Employment Lawyers Association – Eastern Pennsylvania
National Employment Lawyers Association – Georgia Affiliate
National Employment Lawyers Association – New York
National Equality Action Team (NEAT)
National Health Care for the Homeless Council
National Human Services Assembly
National Immigration Law Center
National Korean American Service & Education Consortium (NAKASEC)
National LGBTQ Task Force Action Fund
National Low Income Housing Coalition
National Partnership for Women & Families
National Resource Center on Domestic Violence
National Rural Social Work Caucus
National Urban League
National Women’s Law Center
National Working Positive Coalition
National Workrights Institute
NC Justice Center
NC State AFL-CIO
Nebraska Appleseed
Nebraska Chapter of the National Association of Social Workers
Neighbors Helping Neighbors Teton County MT
NELA Hawaii Chapter
NELA – Kansas City Affiliate
NELA – Saint Louis
NELA – Alabama
Nenana Tortella Council on Aging, INC
Network for Environmental & Economic Responsibility
NETWORK Lobby for Catholic Social Justice
New Jersey Policy Perspective
New Jersey State Coalition of Labor Union Women
New Jersey Tenants Organization
New Mexico Association of Community Partners (NMACP)
New Mexico Black Caucus
New Mexico Center on Law and Poverty
New Orleans Associates of the Sisters of the Blessed Sacrament
New Voices for Reproductive Justice
New York Paid Leave Coalition
North American Climate, Conservation and Environment(NACCE)
North Carolina Alliance for Retired Americans
North Carolina Coalition Against Domestic Violence
North Carolina Council of Churches
North Dakota Chapter of the National Association of Social Workers
North Dakota Economic Security and Prosperity Alliance
Northwest Indiana Community Action
Northwest Pilot Project
Oakland Park Democratic Club
Oakland Symphony
Oasis Legal Services
Ohaha Family Foundation
Ohio Coalition of Labor Union Women
Ohio Domestic Violence Network
Oklahoma Policy Institute
Oklahoma Women’s Coalition
One Pennsylvania
One Stop Career Center of PR Inc
Orange County Poverty Alleviation Coalition
Organize Florida
OURNOVA
Oxfam America
PathWays PA
Patriotic Millionaires
Pax Christi Florida
Pax Christi Illinois
Pax Christi USA
Peace, Justice, Sustainability Florida
Pennsylvania Budget and Policy Center
Pennsylvania Council of Churches
Pennsylvania Together
People Demanding Action
People’s Institute for Housing Justice
Philadelphia Coalition of Labor Union Women
Philly Neighborhood Networks
Piedmont Housing Alliance
Planet Earth
Policy Matters Ohio
Poor Peoples Economic Human Rights Campaign
Positive Women’s Network-USA
PowHer New York
Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)
Pride at Work
Princeton Community Housing
Professional Child Care Provider Network of Prince George’s Co., Inc
Project Bread-The Walk for Hunger
Promise The Children
Provincial Council Clerics of St. Viator (Viatorians)
Public Advocacy for Kids
Public Citizen
Public Citizens for Children and Youth (PCCY)
Public Justice Center
RI Coalition of Labor Union Women (CLUW)
Raise Minimum Wages
Raise the Wage PA
Raise-Op Housing Cooperative
Refuge Ministries Tampa Bay
Regina Mundi Inc.
Religious Institute
Restaurant Opportunities Center of Michigan (ROC-MI)
Restaurant Opportunities Center of Pennsylvania
Restaurant Opportunities Centers United
RESULTS Raleigh
RESULTS-Santa Fe
Rural Coalition
Rural Coaltion & Alianza Nacional de Campesinas
Rural Community Workers Alliance
Sacramento Housing Aliiance
Sacramento Regional Coalition to End Homelessness
SafeHouse Denver, Inc
San Diego Hunger Coalition
San Gabriel Valley-Whittier NOW
Santa Fe NOW
Sargent Shriver National Center on Poverty Law
Sconiers Homeless Preventive Organization Inc
Seattle Human Services Coalition
Seattle/King County Coalition on Homelessness
Second Harvest Food Bank of Lehigh Valley and Northeast Pennsylvania
SEIU Healthcare Pennsylvania
Service Employees International Union
Sexuality Information and Education Council of the United States (SIECUS)
Sherwood Community Services
SIA Legal Team
Sinsinawa Dominican Peace and Justice Office
SisterReach
Sisters of Charity Federation
Sisters of Mercy in NH
Sisters of Mercy West Midwest Community Justice Team
Sisters of Saint Mary of Namur
Sisters of St Joseph of Chambery Justice and Peace Committee
Sisters of St. Dominic of Blauvelt, New York
Sisters of St. Francis, Clinton, Iowa Leadership Team
Sisters of the Holy Spirit and Mary Immaculate
Sisters of the Most Precious Blood of O’Fallon, MO
Social Action Linking Together (SALT)
SocioEnergetics Foundation
South Carolina Christian Action Council, Inc.
South Dakota Chapter of the National Association of Social Workers
Southern HIV/AIDS Strategy Initiative (SASI)/Duke University School of Law
Southern Mutual Help Association, Inc.
Southern Poverty Law Center
Southfield Community Church
Southwest PA National Organization For Women
Southwest Women’s Law Center
Sravasti Abbey
St. James Infirmary
St. Louis CLUW Chapter
St. Louis Gateway District Area Local – APWU 8
St. Louis Gateway District Area Local APWU – POWER Sisters
TASH
Tax Fairness Oregon
Tax March
Tenderloin Neighborhood Development Corporation (TNDC)
Tennessee Citizen Action
Tennessee Justice Center
Texas Employment Lawyers Association
THE ABCD,INC
The Commonwealth Institute for Fiscal Analysis
The Farmworker Association of Florida
The Greater Boston Food Bank
The HUB for Progress
The Praxis Project
The Public Interest Law Project
The Washington Initiative for Supported Employment
The Welcome Church
TMS Enterprises
Toledo Area Jobs with Justice & Interfaith worker Justice Coalition
Transition Services, Inc.
Transport Workers Union of America
Treatment Action Group (TAG)
Trillium Employment Services
Tzedek DC
UCSF
UETHDA Head Start
UltraViolet
UnidosUS
Union for Reform Judaism
Union of Sisters of the Blessed Virgin Mary, USA UNIT
United Food and Commercial Workers International Union
United Food and Commercial Workers Local 227
United Food and Commercial Workers Local 75
United for a Fair Economy
United For Respect
United Steelworkers (USW)
University Church
University of New Mexico Community and Regional Planning Department
Upper East Tennessee Human Development Agency
URGE: Unite for Reproductive & Gender Equity
Vennmedia: A Nonprofit Media Enterprise
Virginia Employment Lawyers Association
Voices for Progress
Vote-Climate
Wage Equality
Washington Anti-Hunger & Nutrition Coalition
Washington Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights and Urban Affairs
Washington Legal Clinic for the Homeless
Washington State Budget & Policy Center
Washington State Community Action Partnership
Watertown Citizens for Peace, Justice & the Environment
We The People – Pennsylvania
Wellstone Democratic Renewal Club
West Valley Neighborhoods Coalition
West Virginia Center on Budget and Policy
Western Center on Law and Poverty
Western NY Chapter Coalition of Labor Union Women
Western Pennsylvania Employment Lawyers Association (WPELA)
WHEAT – World Hunger Education, Advocacy & Training
Whitman-Walker Health
Windham Area Interfaith Ministry
Wisconsin Faith Voices for Justice
Women Employed
Women’s Fund of Rhode Island
Women’s Law Project
Worcester County Food Bank
Worker Justice Center of New York
Working Families Party
Working Partnerships USA
Workplace Fairness
Young Progressives Demanding Action
YouthCare
YWCA of the University of Illinois
YWCA Seattle|King|Snohomish
YWCA USA
YWCA Utah