Protestors gather again in Pinellas to rally to raise minimum wage

Jackson is citing then-Senator Barack Obama’s campaign promise to raise the minimum wage to $9.50 by 2011 as a pushing power for his bill, but is still focusing on the workers.

“We’ve bailed out banks, we’ve bailed out corporations, we’ve bailed out Wall Street, we’ve tried to create sound fundamentals in the economy,” Jackson said in a Capitol Hill news conference in June. “Now it’s time to bail out working people who work hard every day and they still only make $7.25. The only way to do that is to raise the minimum wage.”

In early June, a voter asked Congressman Bill Young (R-Fla.) whether he would support Jackson’s bill. His response: Get a job.

In Florida, the minimum wage is set at $7.67, slightly higher than the federal wage, but still $6,000 below the poverty line for a four-person family.

On Tuesday, about 40 people rallied outside of Young’s district office in Seminole, armed with more than 1,000 petitions from constituents supporting a raise in the minimum wage.

Peggy Goodale is retired, but she said she’s still affected by the low minimum wage rate.

In a letter she read in the Young’s office, she said that increasing the spending power of low-wage workers would in turn help local businesses.

Increasing the minimum wage, she said, would only do good for the community.

Young was not in his office to respond to any members of the rally.
Bill Hurly said he knows what it’s like to feed a family of four while earning minimum wage.

“$15,000 a year isn’t enough,” he said. “It’s way past time for an increase.”

In Young’s office, Hurly asked staff why he never hears back from the congressman.

“When he’s back in town for the weekend and I still don’t hear back from him, he’s not representing me,” Hurly said. “He’s representing someone else.”

In addition, Hurly had a suggestion for how to Young:

“The congressman should be on minimum wage.”