PORTLAND — As it considers a city-wide minimum wage, Mayor Michael Brennan’s Minimum Wage Advisory Committee is now looking for wage earners to tell their stories on July 16. The committee, comprised of business leaders, academics and activists, met for the third time June 18 and considered poll results from about 65 members of Portland […]
minimum wage
Posted inBusiness, Nation / World, sj-web
Republican senators fillibuster minimum wage bill
WASHINGTON — Senate Republicans blocked an election-year Democratic bill on Wednesday that would boost the federal minimum wage, handing a defeat to President Barack Obama on a vote that is sure to reverberate in this year’s congressional elections. The measure’s rejection, which was expected, came in the early months of a campaign season in which […]
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Posted inBusiness, sj-web
Collins says she wants compromise on minimum wage bill
WASHINGTON — Moderate Republican Sen. Susan Collins says she expects to oppose the Democratic effort to raise the federal minimum wage, all but dooming the election-year proposal. That election-year bill, on which the Senate is expected to vote Wednesday, would raise the current $7.25 hourly minimum to $10.10 over 30 months. It will need GOP […]
Posted inMaine, sj-web
Portland considers raising minimum wage
PORTLAND (AP) — The mayor of the Maine city of Portland is discussing setting a citywide wage. Mayor Michael Brennan said he will hold the first of several meetings on Thursday to examine the city having its own minimum wage. He first raised the idea during his state of the city address in January. The […]
Posted inLetters
J. Kieffer: Lower pay for inexperienced workers
When something becomes more expensive, people buy less of it and/or find substitutes. When the price of gas goes up, what do we do? We find ways to use less by driving less or getting a more efficient vehicle. When the price of heating oil goes up, what do we do? We find ways to […]
Posted inLetters
J. Villarreal: Let economic justice prevail
In 1970, the minimum wage was $1.60 for most workers, according to the U.S. Department of Labor. Keeping up with inflation, that figure should be about $10 an hour in 2014. Instead, the minimum wage is $7.25. Now that Congress has failed to extend the Emergency Unemployment Compensation program, the public cannot afford to let […]
Posted inLewiston-Auburn
Obama’s call for higher wages gets mixed reaction in Maine
AUBURN — President Barack Obama’s call in Tuesday’s State of the Union address for employers to pay workers a minimum of $10.10 per hour got a mixed reaction in Maine on Wednesday. Obama did not say he would propose legislation to boost the federal minimum wage. He did that last year and it was not […]
Posted inLetters
D. Lovejoy: Fair wages, fair treatment
Labor Day has just passed and in many parts of this country workers at some fast-food businesses walked off their jobs in protest of the poor wages they are paid. In this country, it is unthinkable that a person cannot make enough money to support themselves and their families. Yet, they can’t. We, the people, […]