Activists rallied on the steps of the New York state capitol Monday to urge leaders to increase the bar on minimum wages. Since the country suffered recession, many people have had meager job options and are struggling to pay bills.
"Thousands of workers in Chicago, let alone in the rest of the country, deserve to have a livable wage, and I truly believe that when someone is given a livable wage, that is going to bolster growth in communities," Amie Crawford, a worker at the Protein Bar, Chicago told the Los Angeles Times.
In the recent economic recovery, of the 1.9 million jobs spawned, 43 percent belonged to the small wage industries like food services, retail and employment services. These industries included temporary and part time workers who were not eligible to claim any employee benefits or insurance, LA Times reported.
As per the Bureau of Labor Statistics, of the 3 million people displaced from their occupations, one third of them claimed that their earnings had dropped around 20 percent since the displacement. Most of them have been suffering from losses in their earnings.
"You see workers trading down their living standards," LA times quoted a senior economist at Bloomberg, Joseph Brusuelas.
Brusuelas also emphasized that there were many workers who were overqualified for meager jobs, but were willing to take them up due to the sluggish pace of the economy.
The state legislature of New Jersey has presented a bill to the government asking to raise the minimum wages to $8.50 per hour from the existing $7.25, which the governor has not yet signed. The last hike in minimum wages was implemented in 2006 by the governor, before recession hit the country.
"Business lobbyists are aware of the campaign and are aggressively working to stop it," Madeline Talbott, former lead organizer of Action Now from Chicago told The LA Times.
"We've had a hard time getting our legislature to approve it." she added
Talbott and other activists believe the protests happening throughout Illinois and other states could drive the issue to the capital soon.
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