Lawmakers and workers rights groups want state officials to let Philly set its own minimum wage

A coalition of low-wage workers, elected officials, workers rights groups and civic organizations urged state politicians Tuesday to both raise the statewide minimum wage and allow municipalities to set their own wage floors.

The rally came two months after Gov. Josh Shapiro called on lawmakers in Harrisburg to pass legislation raising the statewide hourly minimum wage from $7.25 to $15.

“We are far beyond this being an economic issue, it being a political issue,” said State Rep. Ben Waxman (D., Phila.). “It is a moral issue.”

Philadelphia activists and local elected officials have been asking for a $15 an hour minimum wage for more than a decade. The state has had the federal minimum of $7.25 per hour since 2009.

Activists also took their pleas a step further Tuesday, urging lawmakers in Harrisburg to end preemption, the law that prevents Philadelphia and other municipalities from setting local laws already addressed by state legislation.

City Councilmembers Kendra Brooks and Jim Harrity, State Reps. Chris Rabb (D., Phila.) and Ben Waxman (D., Phila.), gathered outside Philadelphia City Hall for a rally Tuesday morning with representatives from groups including Make the Road Pennsylvania, the Restaurant Opportunity Center of Pennsylvania, and Community Legal Services.

“It is absolutely a moral imperative that our local communities have control over the ability to adjust the wage based on their economic conditions,” said Bishop Dwayne Royster, executive director of POWER.

Though Shapiro and Democratic leaders in the House support raising the minimum wage, they must also gain support in the Republican-controlled Senate, where leaders haven’t embraced the idea.

Kate Flessner, spokesperson for the Senate Republican Caucus, said Tuesday that the GOP is focused on “implementing policies that will create maximum wage jobs.

“This period of high inflation cannot be addressed through artificial minimum wage increases.”

State Sen. Daniel Laughlin (R., Erie), who chairs the Senate Majority Policy Committee, announced in April that he’ll introduce legislation increasing the hourly minimum wage to $11 by 2024 and by $2 each year until it reaches $15 in 2026. The law would tie it to inflation after 2026 and raise the tipped wage to 40% of the wage floor.

At least eight state bills addressing the minimum wage are currently pending in the legislature.

Some business groups have expressed support for raising the minimum wage. The Chamber of Commerce for Greater Philadelphia said in a statement Tuesday that it is “supportive of a $15 minimum wage as a means to address devalued wages and promote inclusive growth in our region.”

Maria Cristina Rios, a spokesperson for The Greater Philadelphia Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, said the organization “currently does not have a stance on raising the state’s minimum wage.”

Philadelphia has the fourth lowest “real minimum wage,” per a study by personal finance website SmartAsset. Research from Zillow found a minimum wage worker in Philadelphia would have to work 3.6 jobs to afford a two-bedroom apartment. And according to data from MIT, the living wage for a single adult with no children in Philadelphia is around $17.50 an hour.

Diesheer Davis, the mother of a four-year-old, spoke at Tuesday’s rally. She said she’s worked several minimum and low-wage jobs in grocery stores, fast food chains, and home healthcare. She recalled times when working and receiving support from state programs was still not enough.

“I was walking around with holes in my shoes while working more than two jobs to pay my rent, to pay for childcare and to still put food in the house while I was receiving benefits,” Davis said.

In 2022, 63,600 workers in Pennsylvania made minimum wage or less, according to a report from the Department of Labor and Industry. The same report found white people made up the largest group of workers making at or below minimum wage, followed by Black workers.

Just under 1 million people statewide made less than $15 an hour in 2022.

Every neighboring state, including West Virginia, which has a vastly lower cost of living, has a higher minimum wage.

Organizers also took aim at the tipped minimum wage, which is $2.83 per hour in Pennsylvania.

Tipping in America is a holdover from Reconstruction-era racism that sought to suppress African American earning potential. Many Black Americans worked in food and other tipped service industries at the time and people of color continue to be overrepresented in these industries.

“We are still suffering from those choices today,” said Rabb. “And not just Black and brown folk, everybody who earns a tipped minimum wage across Pennsylvania is suffering.”

Philadelphia politicians frequently take aim at ending state preemption — especially because they want to pass their own gun control legislation.

“It is about time that the state of Pennsylvania gives Philadelphia the right to govern themselves,” said Harrity an at-large City Councilmember, “so we can not only raise the minimum wage, but get this gun problem under control.”