On the 13th anniversary of the latest minimum wage increase, Democrats urged a “pitiful” $7.25 hike.

Marking the 13th anniversary of the last increase in the federal minimum wage in the US — a tiny increase from $5.15 to $7.25 in 2009 — progressive activists on Sunday urged Democrats in Congress to make another push to raise the national minimum wage as inflation continues to shrink. The number of workers’ purchasing power.

“Congress should only raise the wages of tens of millions of workers who are struggling to survive.”

“Today is a sad memory in the United States,” said Maurice Pearl, president of the National Millionaires Association, a group that advocates for progressive economic policy. “For 13 years now, Congress has failed to act to raise the federal minimum wage of $7.25 an hour. Lawmakers have turned their backs on tens of millions of low-wage workers in America and revealed they owe the short-sighted interests of some of their very wealthy donors.”

According to a recent analysis by the Economic Policy Institute (EPI), the real value of the federal minimum wage is currently at its lowest level in nearly seven decades amid record inflation, resulting in a decline in real average hourly wages between June 2021 and June. 2022 with rising corporate profits.

The Expanded Program on Immunization (EPI) noted that “Last July witnessed the longest period of no minimum wage increase since Congress passed the federal minimum wage in 1938, and continued inaction on the federal minimum wage over the past year It further eroded the value of the minimum wage.

In 2021, Senate Democrats withdrew the proposed $15 federal minimum wage from a coronavirus relief package on the advice of the Chamber’s MP, an unelected official tasked with offering nonbinding opinions on whether the legislation complies with Senate rules. .

Eight Senate Democrats joined Republicans in voting against Senator Bernie Sanders’ latest attempt to reinstate the ruling, which was approved by the House.

Amid more than a decade of federal inaction, states and localities across the United States have raised minimum hourly wages in response to grassroots pressure to fight for the $15 movement.

But $7.25 an hour remains the dominant minimum wage in 20 states. The inverted minimum wage is still $3 an hour or less in 22 states.

Had the federal minimum wage increased at the same rate as Wall Street’s bonuses, it would now be $61.75 an hour instead of $7.25. If the minimum wage has kept pace with worker productivity since 1968, it would have been around $23 an hour last year.

“Reactionary politicians all over this country kept our wages low for years,” they fought for $15 Wrote In a Twitter post. “That’s why it’s important that we get at least $15 an hour from the federal minimum wage. That way no one is left behind.”

“$7.25 was already insufficient in 2009 when the minimum wage was last raised, but it is now quite unfortunate,” Morris of National Millionaire said Sunday.

“Since 2009, workers have experienced the Great Recession, the global pandemic, historical inflation, and dramatic changes in the cost of living,” Pearl added. “And what did they get in return? A minimum wage that is 27% lower than its 2009 value, which is now not even enough to buy a one-bedroom apartment in 93% of the country.”

“Faced with rapidly increasing costs to American families, Congress must raise the wages of tens of millions of workers struggling to survive. The federal minimum wage must immediately be raised to at least $15 an hour. Our country cannot afford to reach 14th Anniversary Collection $7.25.”

And if congressional Democrats can’t muster the “political will” to raise the federal minimum wage to at least $15 an hour — a move that would boost the incomes of more than 30 million people across the country — “the president must act,” Pearl said. .

He noted that “when President Biden took office, he raised the minimum wage for federal contractor employees to $15.” “Given the rising cost of living, he must now raise the minimum wage for federal contractors to at least $20 an hour. This move will benefit hundreds of thousands of workers, prove to voters that Democrats care about workers, and provide a powerful example to motivate Democrats in Congress to act. “.

“The president is supposed to be the leader of our country – it’s time for Biden to lead this critical issue,” Pearl added.