Frustrated Workers Urge Minneapolis City Council To Pass $15 Minimum Wage Now

By: Bill Sorem and Michael McIntee | September 13, 2016

Frustrated by politics and the courts, workers who want to raise the minimum wage in Minneapolis to $15 an hour are turning up the heat on the city council.

Monday was supposed to be kick off of a city-wide campaign to get voters to approve a charter amendment raising the city’s minimum wage. That was derailed earlier about two weeks ago when the Minnesota Supreme Court ruled the amendment could not be on the ballot. Now the groups behind that amendment are lobbying the public to put pressure on the city council for immediate action.

“What we want to let city council know today is that we need a $15 an hour ordinance passed now. Not tomorrow. Not next week. Not next year. But now,” yelled a CTUL organizer to a crowd gathered outside of a Wendy’s fast food restaurant on West Broadway.

“I’m tired of being patient. I’ve been patient for too long,” chimed in ISAIAH President Rev. Paul Slack. “Let’s do justice and do it now.”

Since the court stopped the charter amendment, activists have turned their attention to passing an ordinance that would do much the same thing — raising the minimum wage businesses must pay employees in the city of Minneapolis gradually to $15 an hour by the year 2020. For businesses with less than 500 employees, the minimum wage wouldn’t hit $15 an hour until 2022. The city council is considering action, but $15Now Executive Director Ginger Jentzen says what the council is considering is “general and non-binding.”

Diverse coalition shows support for higher wages (more…)