A Long Overdue Raise is Only a First Step By Senator Russ Feingold July 25, 2007 In the new Democratic Congress, we are making real progress to support Wisconsin’s working families. As a longtime supporter of the minimum wage, I was very pleased that the first increase in ten years was signed into law and took effect on July 24. On that day, hard-working Americans received the first of a number of increases over the next two years, which will bring the federal minimum wage to $7.25 an hour. This new increase will help Americans struggling to make ends meet, and it’s about time. The old minimum wage was at its lowest level since 1955 after adjusting for inflation. I have consistently supported Senator Ted Kennedy’s bill to give a raise to the hard-working Americans who make the minimum wage. I was pleased when the new Congress made increasing the federal minimum wage a top priority. Right now, there are thirty-seven million Americans living in poverty, including thirteen million children. Since the 1970s, poverty has increased by fifty percent for full-time, year-round workers. Minimum wage workers who work full time earn $10,700 a year, which is almost $6,000 below the federal poverty guidelines for a family of three. No American should work full-time, year-round, and still live in poverty. While this modest increase in the federal minimum wage will not eliminate poverty, it will provide hard-working Americans with a well-deserved increase in their wages. Increasing the minimum wage was a step in the right direction, but much more remains to be done. Congress can help more Americans increase their standard of living by supporting the right of workers to form and join unions to collectively bargain for better working conditions. I recently voted in favor of the Employee Free Choice Act, which supports the right of workers to unionize and collectively bargain for better pay and benefits. I am encouraged that a majority of the Senate voted for EFCA. While passage of the bill was blocked by the Senate’s Republican minority this time, I hope this vote has laid the groundwork for EFCA’s eventual Senate passage. Workers who belong to unions earn 30 percent more than non-union workers, are 62 percent more likely to have employer-provided health care, and are four times more likely to have a pension. That is why I will continue to advocate for EFCA, which supports American workers’ rights, and their ability to build a better life for themselves and their families. Since coming to the Senate in 1993, I have consistently supported legislation to help working men and women and their families. An increase in the minimum wage is just a first step to helping these Americans. We should pass the EFCA, protect the safety of workers on the job, keep fighting unfair trade agreements, and make sure that the minimum wage is adequate, so that working people and their families in this country get the decent wages they deserve.