CEDAR VALLEY AREA, Iowa (KWWL) - Eastern Iowans gathered on Monday in support of raising the minimum wage to $15 an hour. The Raise the Wage Act was introduced in the Senate January 26, 2021, and if enacted the minimum wage would be raised to $15 an hour by the year 2025.
A handful of demonstrators gathered outside of Congresswoman Ashley Hinson's office in both Cedar Rapids and Waterloo Monday. Organizers said the current minimum wage of $7.25 is not enough.
"We just think it's important for folks who are working full time to be able to provide for themselves and their family," Indivisible Iowa representative Cindy Garlock said.
The groups of about 15 people walked over to Senator Chuck Grassley's office in Waterloo, and the offices of Grassley and Senator Joni Ernst in Cedar Rapids. Both Senators have opposed raising the minimum wage.
The bill would raise the minimum wage in increments each year until the $15 is reached in 2025. The federal and Iowa state minimum wage of $7.25 has not been increased since 2009.
"These are mothers and fathers, aunts and uncles. Grandparents. These are folks working in care jobs, and not just fast food, but like long-term care facilities, nursing homes, home care workers. We want to make sure that everyone is lifted up out of poverty," Service Employee International Union representative Katie Biechler said.
Supporters who came together are calling on the Iowa Legislature to take immediate action.
"We can't wait any longer, so it'll take some time to get all the way up to $15. We already need it now, so we need to pass it as soon as possible, so we can get there as soon as possible, so folks aren't living in poverty any longer," Biechler said.
District 5 Council Member Ashley Vanorny also joined the conversation. She used the personal experience of working in health care.
"It's so difficult to see that they were being undervalued far lower than retail workers, or anybody else who fairly earns 15 dollars an hour, but our own health care heroes, that we put up signs for and rally cried for, were not being treated with that same fairness," Vanorny said.
She mentioned folks leaving jobs to seek other opportunities if they aren't paid enough.
"So what happens if you go to the emergency room and there is no one there for you? That is what's at stake if we don't start paying, particularly our frontline workers, $15 an hour," she said.
Many of the demonstrators were walking on behalf of those living at the poverty level. They say many working paycheck-to-paycheck can't afford to take time off to attend events such as those on Monday.
Those who have argued against raising the minimum wage have expressed concerns about increased operating costs, for example, which would force smaller businesses to go under.
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Demonstrators advocate for raising the minimum wage to $15 an hour - kwwl.com
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