Minimum Wage Bill Will Give Poorest in America a Long-Overdue Raise

January 16, 2019

For Immediate Release
Contact: Shin Inouye, 202.869.0398, [email protected]

WASHINGTON – Vanita Gupta, president and CEO of The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, issued the following statement on the introduction of the Raise the Wage Act of 2019:

“Earning a livable wage is a civil and human right. The Raise the Wage Act of 2019 is a significant step towards combatting the staggering wage inequality that working families face in America, and that disproportionately impacts women. We should all get paid fairly for the work we do, regardless of race, gender, or disability status. This $15 minimum wage bill will also eliminate the tipped minimum wage and the subminimum wage for certain people with disabilities – steps that are long overdue. Working people deserve to make a wage that helps to sustain themselves and their families.”

In 2018, The Leadership Conference’s sister organization, The Leadership Conference Education Fund, along with the Georgetown Center on Poverty and Inequality, released a report entitled “Bare Minimum: Why We Need to Raise Wages for America’s Lowest-Paid Families.”

The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights is a coalition charged by its diverse membership of more than 200 national organizations to promote and protect the rights of all persons in the United States. The Leadership Conference works toward an America as good as its ideals. For more information on The Leadership Conference and its member organizations, visit www.civilrights.org.