280,000 Low-Wage Workers in Massachusetts To Get New Year’s Raise
Minimum Wage to Rise from $9 to $10; Second of Three $1 Increases
BOSTON – On January 1, 2015, 280,000 low-wage workers in Massachusetts will get their second consecutive annual raise when the state’s minimum wage rises from $9 to $10 an hour, the second of three annual $1 increases. January 2017 will give Massachusetts the highest statewide minimum wage in the country at $11 an hour.
Raise Up Massachusetts, a coalition of more than 100 community organizations, religious groups, and labor unions, collected more than 193,000 signatures to put a minimum wage increase on the November 2014 ballot. In June 2014, the Legislature and Raise Up Massachusetts worked together to craft legislation giving Massachusetts the highest stateside minimum wage in the country and avoiding the need for a ballot campaign.
“I was proud to help shepherd our nationally-heralded minimum wage bill through the Legislature, which is now reinvigorating our work in the fight to achieve economic equality,” said House Speaker Robert A. DeLeo. “With this raise we will improve conditions for working families, provide a vehicle for economic growth and strengthen the Commonwealth’s social and economic fabric. I thank the SEIU, the many labor groups who made their voices heard and, importantly, Massachusetts’ hardworking residents for their feedback as we sculpted this bill.”
“The Senate is proud of our Commonwealth’s leadership role in allowing our hardworking residents to better provide for themselves and their families, said Senate President Stanley Rosenberg. “We look forward to continuing efforts with the Coalition to share our prosperity widely and fairly.”
By 2017, increasing the minimum wage to $11 per hour will raise the wages of approximately 450,000 workers in Massachusetts, according to the Massachusetts Budget and Policy Center. The legislation also increases wages for tipped workers to $3.75 per hour by 2017. Current law sets wages at $2.63 for tipped workers.
“Raising the minimum wage puts more money in the hands of working families and helps strengthen our economy,” said Deb Fastino, Co-Chair of Raise Up Massachusetts and Executive Director of the Coalition for Social Justice (CSJ). “When hard-working people have extra money to spend in their neighborhoods, we’re all better off.”
“Our religious values tell us that all people deserve a just wage,” said Lew Finfer, Co-Chair of Raise Up Massachusetts and Director of the faith-based Massachusetts Communities Action Network (MCAN). “We are called by God to act to bring justice for all. In the Book of Isaiah, Chapter 65, God called on us to work for a world where `they shall not labor in vain.’ That's why we expanded a lot of blood, sweat, and tears to collect those signatures and get this passed."
“Raising the minimum wage is the best way to sustain the economic stability of low wage workers and ensure that they can support their families,” said Harris Gruman, Co-Chair of Raise Up Massachusetts and Massachusetts State Director of the Service Employees International Union (SEIU). “We were glad to work with the Legislature to pass this historic legislation, and we look forward to working with them in the future to build an economy that works for everyone.”
If employees do not receive the wage increase that is due starting January 1, they should call the Attorney General's Fair Labor Hotline at (617) 727-3465 and file a Wage Complaint Form through the Attorney General's website.
