State Senator Ed Gomes
May 5, 2008
Gomes Defends the Need For Minimum Wage Hike, Votes For 35-cent Hourly Raise
Stands up for working people in the face of Republican opposition
State Sen. Edwin A. Gomes (D-Bridgeport), the vice-chairman of the Labor and Public Employees Committee, joined majority Democrats in the state Senate today by voting to increase the state's minimum wage by 35 cents an hour, from $7.65 an hour to $8 an hour on January 1, 2009, and then again by another 25 cents an hour to $8.25 an hour beginning January 1, 2010.
"I'm from Bridgeport, where you've got to make $22.52 an hour to afford a typical two-bedroom apartment in this city," said Sen. Gomes. "How many minimum wage jobs have you got to work, or how any people in that apartment have got to work minimum wage jobs, in order to afford that monthly rent?"
According to the nonpartisan state Office of Fiscal Analysis, in 2007, approximately 65,000 employees in Connecticut were paid at or below the minimum wage of $7.65 an hour. This is 3. 5% of the approximately 1,865,000 total employed workers in the state, or 7% of the approximately 923,000 hourly rate workers.
The state Labor Department estimates that there are about 28,000 workers in the state earning $ 6.99 an hour or less, and 37,000 workers earning between $ 7.00 and $ 7.65.
Several laws permit employers to pay less than minimum wage; these affect mainly wait staff and people with disabilities. The state tip credit law for waiters and waitress allows employers to pay these workers 29% less than the state minimum wage (or $ 5.41 per hour using the current minimum). This is permitted as long as the employee's tips bring his or her wage up to at least $ 7.65 an hour. If the tips do not make up that difference, the employer must pay the full $ 7.65 an hour.
There are approximately 25,880 waiters and waitresses in Connecticut, according to federal Department of Labor Bureau of Labor Statistics 2006 Employment and Wages survey.
|
Senator Gomes’ |
Listing of Senator Gomes’ recent press releases and a Press Kit with official head shots and bio. |
Press Aide Larry Cook |
