Fight to Finish Vowed to Raise Minimum Pay

Armed with a report concluding that the last minimum wage increase helped low-income workers without hurting the economy, Democrats pledged Wednesday to push a new increase through Congress this year that would raise the minimum pay to $6.15 an hour.

They face strong opposition from Republican leaders, who contend that a higher minimum wage forces small businesses to lay off workers and put off hiring teenagers.

Sen. Paul Wellstone (D-Minn.) promised “an all-out effort to bring this to the floor and have as many votes as we need to pass it.”

That was the strategy in 1996 when Democrats held up action on other legislation until Republicans agreed to vote on raising the minimum wage, then $4.25 an hour, to $5.15 by September 1997.

Wellstone, Sen. Edward M. Kennedy (D-Mass.) and Rep. David E. Bonior (D-Mich.) are leading the effort to boost the mark to $6.15 in 2000.

They sought to bolster their argument with a study by the labor-backed Economic Policy Institute that found no discernible job losses among entry-level workers, including teenagers, from the 1996-97 raise.

The study found that the last raise boosted wages for almost 10 million workers, of whom 71% were adults and 58% were women.

It added that the average minimum wage worker, who at the current rate earns $10,700 annually--$2,900 below the poverty level for a family of three--is responsible for providing 54% of her family’s earnings.

Labor Secretary Alexis M. Herman said at a news conference with the Democratic lawmakers that it is a question of values, that “if you work full time, you should not have to live in poverty.”

But House Majority Whip Tom DeLay (R-Texas) said the proposal would result in layoffs.