MADISON, Wis. — Service workers and liberal organizers are calling on state lawmakers to raise Wisconsin’s minimum wage from $7.25 to $20 an hour.
Wisconsin is one of 20 states that haven’t raised their minimum wages higher than the federal rate set in 2009. The push for a higher minimum wage comes as 25 states raised their minimum wages last year.
“A $7.25 minimum wage is absurd in this day and age,” said Troy Brewer, a cook at Fiserv Forum. “Let’s stop playing politics. Let’s stop playing Republicans versus Democrats. Let’s do what’s right by people.”
The average single person in Wisconsin needs to make $20.96 to support themselves, according to MIT’s Living Wage Calculator.
Adrienne Frey, a server and bartender, said she works multiple jobs and still struggles to make ends meet. As she plans to give birth, she’s worried about covering the rising cost of health care.
Watch: Labor activists call for $20 minimum wage in Wisconsin
“How are we meant to live like this?” she said.
Previous proposals from Democrats to raise the minimum wage in Wisconsin have gone nowhere in the Republican-controlled Legislature.
Kurt Bauer, president of Wisconsin Manufacturers and Commerce, which is the state’s largest business lobbying group, said raising the minimum wage will hurt employers.
"A government-mandated minimum wage is nothing more than a tax on hiring. And when you make something more expensive, you get less of it,” he said. “In this case, fewer jobs, especially for lower-skilled and inexperienced workers. This is the predictable and well-documented consequence of artificially raising the cost of being an employer.”
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