Small Business Owners for a Living Wage
Add your name to the growing movement of Maine small business owners calling on our congressional delegation to support a $15 federal minimum wage and to eliminate the subminimum wage by 2027:
Dear Senator King, Senator Collins, Representative Pingree and Representative Golden;
I join countless small business owners calling on you to push to ensure that the Raise the Wage Act is included in its entirety in the final passage of President Biden's COVID relief package - the American Rescue Plan.
The Raise the Wage Act includes a $15 minimum wage and an end to the subminimum wage for tipped workers, workers with disabilities, and youth. All workers need $15 an hour to survive, feed their children, and support the economy; their ability to survive and thrive is essential to our nation's economic recovery. Tipped workers in particular have been subject to poverty, sexual harassment, and dangerous COVID exposure because they must tolerate biased and inappropriate customer behavior to get tips to feed their families - especially with tips diminished by 50-75%, these workers need a full $15 from their employer with tips on top. And I'm not alone; nearly 60% of all Americans of both parties agree with raising the minimum wage to $15 an hour and ending subminimum wages for tipped workers, workers with disabilities and youth.
Millions of Americans voted for the first time in 2020 because they believed Congress could deliver economic relief from the pandemic. Most Americans agree relief means not only vaccines and one-time cash relief but also the ability to survive, feed our children, and support the economy. Please push to ensure the Raise the Wage Act passes in its entirety as part of your total COVID relief package.