Weekly Address: This Labor Day, Let’s Talk About the Minimum Wage
Source: White House
In this week’s address, the President wished Americans a Happy Labor Day weekend, highlighted the important economic progress we’ve made, and reaffirmed his commitment to accelerate our progress and ensure that our growing economy fuels a strong middle class.
To do this, the President reiterated that Congress should do right by hardworking Americans across the country and raise the minimum wage, and he praised the 13 states and Washington, D.C. as well as employers large and small who have heeded his call and taken action to provide their citizens and employees a fair wage.
The President underscored that America built the world’s greatest middle class by making sure that everyone who’s willing to work hard and play by the rules can get ahead – an economic patriotism worth remembering this Labor Day, and every day.
Read more: http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2014/08/30/weekly-address-labor-day-let-s-talk-about-minimum-wage
http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2014/08/30/weekly-address-labor-day-let-s-talk-about-minimum-wage
(snip)
We set aside Labor Day to honor the working men and women of America. And this Labor Day, we’ve got more to celebrate. Over the past 53 months, our businesses have added nearly 10 million new jobs. Last month, for the first time since 1997, we created more than 200,000 jobs for six straight months. And for the first time in over a decade, business leaders worldwide have declared, two years running, that the number one place to invest isn’t China – it’s America.
(snip)
The bottom line is, America deserves a raise. But until we’ve got a Congress that cares about raising working folks’ wages, it’s up to the rest of us to make it happen. And in the year and a half since I first asked Congress to raise the minimum wage, Americans of all walks of life are doing just that.
Thirteen states and D.C. have done their part by raising their minimum wages. Four more states have minimum wage initiatives on the ballot this November. And the states where the minimum wage has gone up this year have experienced higher job growth than the states that haven’t.
Business leaders at companies like The Gap are doing their part. They’re raising base wages for tens of thousands of workers because they know it’s good for business.
Mayors across the country are doing their part. Mayor Emanuel in Chicago and Mayor Garcetti in L.A. are working to lift their cities’ wages over time to at least thirteen dollars an hour.
I’ve tried to do my part by requiring companies that get contracts with the federal government to pay their workers a fair wage of ten dollars and ten cents an hour.
And earlier this month, the president of Kentucky State University set a great example by giving himself a $90,000 pay cut, so that he could give raises to his lowest-paid employees. His sacrifice will give more of his workers and their families a little extra money to help make ends meet.
That’s how America built the greatest middle class the world has ever known. Not by making sure a fortunate few at the top are doing well, but by making sure that everyone who’s willing to work hard and play by the rules can get ahead. That’s the bedrock this country is built on. Hard work. Responsibility. Sacrifice. And looking out for one another as one united American family.
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And glad he again emphasized the minimum wage issue and underscored how that ties in with all the other positive labor reforms that have occurred over the past century, thanks to the establishment of unions....
So we're expected to work multiple jobs, except that places like Target don't schedule fixed hours- so you can't coordinate blocks of time to work other jobs.
Here, in Seattle, they're raising the minimum wage by $7/ hr. (!) - over the course of seven years. 
Not sure I can hold out until 2021.
Better situation than most locations, however. I'm thankful for that.
