NEWS

Protesters at Capitol demand higher minimum wage

Alexa Armstrong
Statesman Journal
Protestors in support of raising the minimum wage to $15 an hour attend a rally at Oregon State Capitol on Saturday, Jan. 24, 2015, in Salem, Ore.

Supporters of higher wages for Oregon's low-paid workers swarmed the state Capitol steps today, loudly chanting, "Fight for 15."

Waving red picket signs that read "end poverty wages," protesters sought to build support in Oregon for a new minimum wage of $15 per hour.

Several bills dealing with higher pay will likely be considered in Oregon's Democrat-controlled legislature, which convenes Feb. 2 for an estimated five month session. More broadly the economic issues of income equality and making work pay are also resonating in Washington, D.C., where on Tuesday President Barack Obama set out similar policy goals.

Oregon's current minimum wage, already the second highest among states (some cities have higher minimums), is $9.25 per hour. It has been adjusted for inflation annually since 2004.

Justin Norton-Kertson, organizer for 15 Now and emcee at Saturday's rally, said Oregonians deserve a higher wage.

"It's really not so much a matter of why as need," Norton-Kertson said. "The minimum wage really needs to raise — it's a poverty wage now. The recession is over, the economy has recovered," he added. "The economy in Oregon is growing three times the rate of the national average, but wages have been stagnant."

Saturday's crowd supported House Bill 2009, sponsored by Rep. Rob Nosse, D-Portland. It would raise the minimum wage to $15 per hour by 2018, in graduated steps.

Other bills also would target a higher minimum wage, but not as high as $15.

Senate Bill 327, sponsored by Sens. Lee Beyer, D-Springfield, and Diane Rosenbaum, D-Portland, aims to raise the minimum wage to $12.20 per hour in installments, $10.90 in 2016 and $12.20 in 2017. It would also establish that the minimum wage rate must be above the federal poverty guidelines for a family of four.

House Bill 2008, sponsored by Rep. Margaret Doherty, D-Tigard, would do the same as SB 327.

After the rally on the Capitol steps, supporters marched the McDonald's franchise a few blocks away at Capitol and Center Streets NE, presumably where minimum-wage workers are employed, to emphasize their point.

Norton-Kertson said raising the minimum wage would help more than just restaurant or retail workers.

"It's our city workers, parks and recreation department and people who work at our schools, who drive our buses," he said.

Janice Niang, a Portland school bus driver and member of the Oregon School Educators Association, agreed.

"We make less than the wood chip guy and the beer delivery guy make at your local minimart, and we haul around American's future — and we are invested," Niang said

She said most people don't know that their children are being taken to and from school by highly qualified individuals. Most of her fellow bus drivers have degrees that they've never used. Niang has a degree in both K-12 art education and psychology.

"I'm in a career that I enjoy, but I can't make a living out of it," Niang said. "I house-share with someone, I'm on the Oregon Heath Plan and I work and I live below poverty, and it's about time that Oregon got a wage."

Sarah Kowaleski works for the city of Portland, and also described herself as a low-wage worker.

"I work our communities important life events: birthdays, weddings, anniversaries," Kowaleski said "I also hire staff and I make spending decisions for my work place, and I live in complete poverty."

"I'd like nothing more than to be able to afford to take my friends out to eat, support local businesses or take a vacation," she added.

She said her experience with working a low-wage job is not unique and believes that a minimum wage of $15 per hour would help thousands.

HB 2009 has been introduced in the house and a hearing date has not been set.

Norton-Kertson said if the bill doesn't pass they will keep fighting.

"15 Now is prepared to push it to a ballot measure if necessary," he said.

aarmstrong@statesmanjournal.com; (503) 399-6745 or follow on Twitter at @AlexaArletta