APALA Joins Senator Kennedy and Civil Rights Groups in Support of A Raise in the Minimum Wage
Thursday, January 25, 2007
Jon
Melegrito, former APALA Board Member, joined
Senator Kennedy and other leading civil rights
leaders at a press conference in support of
raising the minimum wage. Below are Jon
Melegrito's prepared remarks:
Good
morning. I am Jon Melegrito. I am speaking on
behalf of Gloria T. Caoile, Executive Director
of the Asian Pacific American Labor Alliance.
Ms. Caoile is presently out of the country. I
am a member of APALA and previously served on
APALA’s board of directors.
APALA is
one of the constituency groups of the AFL-CIO.
It is the first and only national organization
of Asian Pacific American union members.
APALA’s agenda includes organizing workers,
advocating for civil rights, social and
economic justice, and increasing the
participation of Asian Americans in the
political process.
APALA supports the
passage of a minimum wage bill with no
accompanying tax provisions. Of the 6.6 million
Americans estimated to benefit directly from a
minimum wage increase, about two percent are
Asian Americans, mostly women with
children.
Raising the minimum wage to
$7.25 an hour will mean an additional $4,400 a
year to help these minimum wage earners support
their families. At present levels, these wage
earners are making just $10,700 a year, far
less than the federal poverty guideline of
$16,600 for a family of three.
Many Asian Americans who are at the
low end of the wage scale are immigrants. They
face linguistic and cultural barriers and are
more likely to be exploited by unscrupulous
employers. These are hard-working Americans.
Reward them fairly for their labor.
In
states that have already raised their own
minimum wage, economic studies show no adverse
impact to the state economy. In fact, raising
the minimum wage has resulted in less employee
turnover, increased productivity, more job
growth, not job losses.
We at APALA urge the United States Senate to
do the right thing. Pass a minimum wage bill
that is not tied to tax breaks.
Thank you.