$10.10 Minimum Wage Bill Passes in the Maryland General Assembly
Monday, April 7, 2014
(Metropolitan Washington Council, AFL-CIO)Labor leaders and their allies hailed
Monday’s passage of the
$10.10 minimum wage by the Maryland General
Assembly. “Raising Maryland’s
minimum wage is a huge win for the hundreds of
thousands of workers across the
state who will get a raise, as well as the
businesses and communities that will
experience increased economic activity because
of higher wages,” said Ricarra
Jones, chair of Raise Maryland, a diverse
coalition of community, labor,
immigrant, civil rights and faith
organizations.
“Maryland today, the
U.S. Congress
next!” added Metro Washington Council
president Jos Williams. The bill – which
is expected to be quickly signed by Gov. Martin
O’Malley -- will raise the wage
from the current $7.25 an hour to $8.00 in
January 1, 2015, and rise again to
$8.25 on July 1, 2015. Workers will get
subsequent raises to $8.75 on July 1,
2016 and $9.25 on July 1, 2017. The full-phase
in to $10.10 will take place on
July 1, 2018 and will put Maryland among the
highest minimum wage rates in the
country and mirrors the current federal
proposal proposed by President Barack
Obama.
At the same time, Williams noted
that “We’re extremely disappointed that
the phase-in date was moved back two years,
that we
lost indexing the minimum wage to the cost of
living and that wages for tipped
workers were frozen by the House at $3.63 per
hour at the behest of the restaurant
industry.”
However, “This win
demonstrates Maryland Working Families’
ability to form effective coalitions to move
elected officials and grassroots
to make progressive change,” said Charly
Carter, executive director of Maryland
Working Families. “We see passage of a $10.10
minimum wage as an important
first win but we're not stopping here. We need
to raise wages for tipped
workers, win paid sick days, fight for
retirement security for all and work to
get big money out of politics so ordinary
working people can have an equal
voice in the decisions that affect us all.”