President To Announce Significant Change in Federal Minimum Wage Policy During State of the Union

Written by Adam R. Bermudez

President To Announce Significant Change in Federal Minimum Wage Policy During State of the Union by Adam R. Bermudez

As the fight for a living wage continues to wage in New York City, championed by such local leaders at Borough President Ruben Diaz Jr., President Barack Obama will signal to the nation his stance on the federal government providing a decent wage to those federal contract workers who toil for its upkeep.

As reported in The Huffington Post earlier today:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/01/28/obama-minimum-wage_n_4677355.html

“President Barack Obama will announce during Tuesday night’s State of the Union address that he’s raising the minimum wage for workers under federal contracts to $10.10 per hour, an administration official told The Huffington Post.
The new policy, to be instituted via executive order, may affect hundreds of thousands of workers whose jobs are supported by federal dollars. The move is designed in part to ratchet up pressure on Congress to pass legislation raising the minimum wage for all workers. The current federal minimum wage stands at $7.25 per hour, and hasn’t been raised since 2009, after the last of a series of increases signed into law by then-President George W. Bush.”

By utilizing the executing order, the President will bypass Congressional approval.

“Mindful of Congress’s reluctance to be cooperative at times, the President is going to exercise his authority,” said White House spokesperson Jay Carney of the order at the White House’s daily press conference. “The president has embraced the idea in the past that he can use his authority as president and the powers available to the president to advance his agenda on behalf of the American people. What we have said is that he views 2014 as a year of action…”

Written by Adam R. Bermudez