Would Raise Minimum Wage in 3 Steps; GOP Opposes Move : Democrats Propose Base Pay of $4.65

Congressional Democrats proposed Wednesday to raise the minimum wage by $1.30, to $4.65 an hour, within the next three years. The Reagan Administration immediately vowed to fight the increase.

Led by Sen. Edward M. Kennedy (D-Mass.), chairman of the Senate Labor and Human Resources Committee, Democrats introduced legislation to raise the minimum wage for about 6.7 million workers for the first time in six years.

50 Cents in 1988

Under the bill, the minimum wage would remain at $3.35 an hour until Dec. 31, increase by 50 cents during 1988, rise an additional 40 cents in 1989 and become $4.65 on Jan. 1, 1990.

Beginning on Jan. 1, 1991, and on Jan. 1 of every succeeding year, the minimum wage would be revised so the rate would be one-half of “the average private, non-supervisory, non-agricultural hourly wage as determined by the Bureau of Labor Statistics of the Department of Labor for the previous November, rounded to the nearest multiple of 5 cents.”

The average wage in February was $8.87 an hour, which would mean a $4.45 minimum wage under that formula.

‘Redeem the Promise’

At a news conference announcing the legislation, Kennedy said: “A subminimum wage is substandard public policy--for young or old. The time has come for Congress to redeem the promise of the minimum wage by restoring its value for American workers.”

He said a full-time worker today who receives the minimum wage earns less than $7,000 a year, which is only 77% of the poverty level for a family of three and 60% of the poverty level for a family of four.

Kennedy and Rep. Augustus F. Hawkins (D-Los Angeles), chairman of the House Education and Labor Committee, said they expected the measure to be ready for floor consideration in both chambers of Congress by the end of summer and to be approved despite Reagan’s opposition.

Brock Criticizes Plan

“We will oppose it,” Labor Secretary William E. Brock III said in reaction to the proposal. “The Administration cannot stand by while some in Congress propose an action which will further deny opportunity to America’s young men and women.”

Brock said each incremental increase in the Democratic bill will “result in the loss of job opportunities for thousands of teen-agers.”

The proposal is not likely to attract much Republican help in Congress. Key GOP members on the Senate and House labor committees oppose a wage increase, and they are threatening to amend it by adding other items--such as the establishment of a subminimum wage for teen-agers--that are opposed by organized labor.