Senate Committee Votes to Pay Young Adults Poverty Wages

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

News from Progress Michigan

June 17, 2015

Contact: Sam Inglot, 616-916-0574, sam@progressmichigan.org

Senate Committee Votes to Pay Young Adults Poverty Wages

SB250 would lower wages for Michiganders under 20 years old 

LANSING — Continuing their trend of attacking workers’ wages, conservatives on a Senate committee voted this morning to lower the wages of young Michiganders working at a minimum wage job.

The bill, SB250, would lower the minimum wage for workers under 20 years old to 85 percent of the state’s minimum wage or the federal minimum wage whichever is greater. Sen. Margaret O’Brien sponsors the bill.

“Why is it that conservatives like Margaret O’Brien are so driven to lower workers’ wages across the state? That’s the only thing that this bill actually accomplishes,” said Lonnie Scott, executive director of Progress Michigan. “This bill is a slap in the face to the young people of Michigan. This bill explicitly devalues the young people of this state who are paying for college, helping their families pay the bills or saving for their futures. O’Brien cited her own children as examples of why we need this type of law, failing to account for the thousands of low-income, non-privileged households who in some instances rely on these jobs for survival. This bill is nothing more than an attempt to rob young adults of wages. I hope it never sees the light of day on the Senate floor.”

This is just the latest attack on workers’ wages by right-wing elected officials, who are also pushing to lower construction worker wages by repealing prevailing wage and preventing local governments from passing living wage and higher minimum wage ordinances.

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