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American Jews for a Higher Minimum Wage
If you support an increase in the federal minimum wage, the time to act is now.
The Fair Minimum Wage Act is currently under consideration by the Senate and faces significant opposition from Senators hoping to add unnecessary amendments and possibly prevent the bill from passage. Send the sample email below with any personal additions to ask your Senators to support the increase of the federal minimum wage to $7.25/hour.
On January 8 they heard from over 450 rabbis and rabbinical students – now they need to hear from you, their constituents.
| Sample Letter for Campaign |
Subject: Support the Fair Minimum Wage Act!
Dear [ Decision Maker ] ,
I am writing to urge you to support the Fair Minimum Wage Act, which would increase the federal minimum wage to $7.25 an hour, without amendment and without delay. This increase would represent the first raise for the country's poorest workers in almost ten years and is long overdue.
Since over 70% of minimum wage workers are adults, the Fair Minimum Wage Act will provide some relief to those men and women who are forced to work overtime or multiple jobs to support their families, yet still remain in poverty. The current minimum wage of $5.15 an hour is unjust and immoral.
I agree with more than 450 rabbis and rabbinical students who recently signed an open letter to Congress organized by Jewish Funds for Justice and the Religious Action Center. It asked the following:
"The medieval Jewish scholar Maimonides taught that the highest level of tzedakah (righteousness) is reached when we help someone stand on their own two feet. As religious leaders, we open our hearts and our hands to the poor and ask: How can we create a society that promotes economic self-sufficiency, reflecting this teaching?"
The least we can do to help low-wage workers stand on their own feet is to increase the federal minimum wage.
I urge you to support the passage of the Fair Minimum Wage Act without amendment and without delay.
Thank you.
Sincerely,
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Campaign Launched:
January 10, 2007
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The current federal minimum wage has been stuck at $5.15 an hour for the past ten years. The real value of today’s minimum wage is $3 less than what it was in 1968 and has failed to keep pace with the basic costs of living in today’s society.
The leadership of the 110th Congress has identified an increase of the minimum wage to $7.25/month as a priority for the first 100 hours of the new session. The House has already done their part, passing HR 2, the Fair Minimum Wage Act of 2007, on January 10th. Now it is time for the Senate to act.
On January 22, the Senate began debate on the Fair Minimum Wage Act. Some Senators are trying to weaken this bill by adding anti-worker amendments, like restrictions on tipped workers and attacks on overtime protections. Others would like to amend the bill to include tax cuts for small businesses.
Hundreds of economists agree with the 1999 Economic Report of the President that "the weight of the evidence suggests that modest increases in the minimum wage have had very little or no effect on employment."
Representative Steny Hoyer of Maryland, incoming Democratic majority leader of the House of Representatives, referred to the minimum wage increase as "...a moral issue, as well as an issue of economic fairness and justice." Faith communities, many coordinated by the interfaith group Let Justice Roll, have helped to lead local and national efforts to raise the minimum wage.
Jewish texts and leaders have grappled with the minimum wage issue in a variety of ways. Rabbi Jill Jacobs, ordained in 2003 at the Jewish Theological Seminary and the Director of Education at Jewish Funds for Justice, has written and presented a teshuva, or rabbinic opinion, on a living wage, the unionization of workers, and the obligations of Jewish employers.
Click here for more Jewish resources on the fair wage issues.
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