Minimum Wage Boost a Victory for DC Workers

July 2, 2016 
Reprinted: 1199.org

Washington, DC – Nearly nine hundred 1199SEIU members working in Washington, DC will receive significant raises thanks to the tireless fight waged by workers, activists and labor unions to raise the city’s minimum wage.

The Fair Shot Minimum Wage Act, approved by the DC City Council on June 21 and signed into law by Mayor Muriel Bowser on June 27, will raise the hourly minimum wage from the current $10.50 rate to $15 by 2020, and will thereafter be indexed to the cost of living. The raises will go into effect in phases, the first being an increase to $12.50 in 2017.

As a key coalition member, 1199 played a critical role in garnering support for the minimum wage hike. Mayor Bowser thanked SEIU twice during her speech prior to signing the bill, acknowledging the contributions made by the members of 1199SEIU and SEIU 32BJ in helping usher the legislation through.

Washington, DC joins dozens of cities around the country that have enacted laws to raise wages and standards for workers.