Around the country, people are working to raise the minimum wage. California and New Jersey just voted to raise their minimum wages, and there's an effort to raise the federal minimum wage. SHARE is working with other unions, churches and faith organizations, and community groups to raise the minimum wage in Massachusetts. If we get enough signatures on petitions, the question will be on the ballot in November 2014 for voters to decide. The question would raise the minimum wage to $10.50 over a few years, and minimum wage would go up with inflation after that.

Everyone in SHARE makes more than $8.00 per hour, the Massachusetts minimum wage. Raising the minimum wage would not directly affect SHARE members. However, it's still good for us and for our communities:

Many of us have children, friends and neighbors making minimum wage -- we're doing this for them.
Many economists say raising the minimum wage helps the economy because regular people have more money to spend.
A rising tide lifts all boats: When the minimum wage increases, people making more than minimum tend to get raises too. That would be a big change from the "race to the bottom" we've seen recently, with employers around the state and the country focusing on cutting wages, pensions, and healthcare, which makes our contract negotiations more difficult.
It's just keeping up with inflation: The minimum wage of $1.60 an hour in 1968 would be $10.50 today if it had kept up with inflation. The Massachusetts minimum wage has been stuck at $8 since 2008 -- that's five years without a raise for those folks, while costs for the basics keep going up, as we all know.

We Need Your Signature!

You can add your name to the petition to get the minimum wage question on the ballot by stopping by:

Tuesday, November 12th, 12-1:30, University Cafeteria -- We'll be at a table to the left. Look for the Raise Up Massachusetts sign.
Thursday, November 14th, 12-1pm, Memorial 1 conference room, toward the ED from the cafeteria
Or email us, and we'll bring a petition to you to sign this week: share.comment@theshareunion.org

For more information about the effort, see Raise Up Massachusetts.