Let Justice Roll

Group to city: Raise the wage
Wichita Eagle, 9/1/07

After years of unsuccessful attempts to get the Kansas Legislature to raise the state's minimum wage, a group of labor organizers is about to turn its focus to a new target: the Wichita City Council.
The group announced a new 'Raise the Wage, Wichita' campaign Saturday during a Labor Day picnic at the District 70 Machinists Building, 3830 S. Meridian.

'We challenge the leaders of Wichita to take the economic and moral high road,' state organizer Heidi Zeller told those attending the event, which was sponsored by the Wichita-Hutchinson Labor Federation. 'Let's reward hard work with fair pay.'

If the group succeeds, Wichita would become one of a handful of cities in the nation with a minimum-wage ordinance.

City Council members were invited to the event, but none attended, Zeller said.

More than 100 cities have 'living wage' laws that set minimum pay standards for companies doing business with those cities. But only a few -- such as San Francisco; Washington, D.C.; and Albuquerque and Sante Fe, N.M. --have true minimum-wage laws.

Kansas' minimum wage has been set at $2.65 an hour for nearly 20 years, and it is now the lowest in the nation. The federal minimum wage increased from $5.15 to $5.85 an hour July 27.

The Kansas Legislature has rejected several proposals to increase the minimum wage, largely out of concerns over the financial impact it might have on small businesses.

Zeller said many of the 27,000 Kansans who earn less than the federal minimum wage are restaurant workers.

Jake Lowen, who is organizing the 'Raise the Wage, Wichita' campaign, said 7,000 of those workers are in the child-care business.

'Even McDonald's employees make the federal minimum wage,' he said. 'Those who care for our children should not make less than the person who serves you a Big Mac.'

Zeller called Kansas' minimum wage 'embarrassing and unjust,' and she urged those in attendance to write letters to elected officials and sign petitions that support the movement.

She said in an interview that the group planned to approach City Council members individually to ask if they would be willing to support their cause. Campaign organizers will meet next week to map their strategy.

Zeller said the push for citywide minimum-wage laws was a relatively recent phenomenon that grew out of a reluctance by state and federal governments to keep their laws in tune with the rate of inflation.

Lowen said the group was turning to the city because of a growing frustration with dealing with state legislators.

'At some point you get to the straw that breaks the camel's back, and we are at that point,' he said.