Some States Will Raise The Wage!

Seeing is believing,

An ineffective Congress is a burden on the American voter.

You may remember in the first year of the Democratic controlled Senate where Arizona senator Kyrsten Sinema infamously did a thumbs down and curtsy. While wearing a wig, an expensive mini skirt, purse and ankle boots, the senator sunk the federal minimum wage increase proposal. Sinema, sided with Republicans and seven Democratic senators to vote down a minimum wage increase amendment to President Joe Biden's $1.9 trillion coronavirus relief bill. It was the way she did it that drew condemnation on social media and some comparisons to the late John McCain.

Sinema (I-AZ) and Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV) have been considered nuances to Biden. 

Manchin is retiring from the Senate and is considering an independent run for president to undermine Biden. Sinema has not announced her intentions to run for reelection. 

However, Kari Lake and Rep. Ruben Gallego (D-AZ) have confirmed they're intentions to run.

Sen. John Fetterman (D-PA) has vowed to be the replacement to Sinema and Manchin once they leave.

Currently the U.S. minimum wage is still $7.25 an hour. There is no chance Congress will pass any legislation to rise the wage.

But several states do have trigger laws.

Workers in 22 states and dozens of localities will see a wage hike on New Year’s thanks to cost-of-living adjustments baked into minimum wage laws.

Ineffective lawmakers like Kyrsten Sinema can parade expensive clothing while voting against fair wages and labor rights.

In all, 65 cities, counties and states will hike their wage floors at the start of 2024, the majority of them hitting at least $15 per hour, according to an analysis by the National Employment Law Project (NELP), a group that advocates for higher minimum wages.

Another three states and 22 local jurisdictions will boost their minimums later in the year, including 15 that will set a floor of at least $17 for some workers.

The near-record number of increases is the result of years of organizing by workers and labor groups pushing state and local governments on the issue, particularly through the union-backed Fight for $15 campaign that began in fast food in 2012.

State increases slated for Jan. 1, 2024:

Alaska: $10.85 to $11.73

Arizona: $10.85 to $14.35

California: $15.50 to $16.00

Colorado: $13.65 to $14.42

Connecticut: $15.00 to $15.69

Delaware: $11.75 to $13.25

Hawaii: $12.00 to $14.00

Illinois: $13.00 to $14.00

Maine: $13.80 to $14.15

Maryland: $13.25 ($12.80 for small employers) to $15.00

Michigan: $10.10 to $10.33

Minnesota: $10.50 to $10.85 (large employers); $8.63 to $8.85 (small employers)

Missouri: $12.00 to $12.30

Montana: $9.95 to $10.30

Nebraska: $10.50 to $12.00

New Jersey: $14.13 to $15.13

New York: $15.00 to $16 (New York City area); $14.20 to $15 (Upstate)

Ohio: $10.10 to $10.45

Rhode Island: $13.00 to $14.00

South Dakota: $10.80 to $11.20

Vermont: $13.18 to $13.67

Washington State: $15.74 to $16.28

Raises will come later in the year to Florida ($12.00 to $13.00), Nevada ($11.25 to $12.00) and Oregon ($14.20 to yet-to-be-determined). 

The too good to be true in work. The starting wages at over $20.00 an hour. Usually it is limited part time work and inconvenient hours like a shift between where starting times are either 1am or 6pm. Many states also are "at will" where employers can fire you for social media, competing jobs, not accommodating to their scheduling, taking an extended time off, place you on a no hire or rehire listing and continue a blacklisting clause. The pressure to cut costs wherever possible leads factory owners and managers to squeeze labor in turn. Beyond low wages, workers experience this price squeeze in the forms of wage theft, safety violations, excessive overtime, and violations of their right to organize, to name a few.

All legal and unethical. Congress refuses to pass a workers right bill.