Milwaukee County Board supports minimum wage increase | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Sharon McGowan
July 31, 2012
A resolution calling on Congress to increase the federal minimum wage to $9.80 per hour was passed by the Milwaukee County Board.
The campaign to increase the minimum wage is backed by a coalition of community, faith, and labor organizations including Citizen Action of Wisconsin, 9 to 5, We Are Milwaukee, SEIU, MICAH, Voces de la Frontera, AFT Local 212, and Wisconsin Jobs Now.  County Supervisor Nikiya Harris introduced the resolution.
The minimum wage has been $7.25 an hour, or $15,080 a year for full-time work, for three years. The current minimum wage is almost $9,000 below the federal poverty line for a family of four.
The bill before Congress would increase the minimum wage 85 cents a year over three years, from $7.25 to $9.80 per hour. The rate then would be indexed to inflation each year thereafter.
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