New York, NY (May 18, 2005)- As a longstanding supporter of raising the minimum wage, the National Urban League is pleased to endorse the Fair Minimum Wage Act of 2005, introduced in the Senate by Senator Edward Kennedy (MA) and in the House by George Miller (CA). The bill calls for an increase in the federal minimum wage from $5.15/hour to $7.25/hour over two years. The National Urban League believes that raising the minimum wage is long overdue and a matter of basic fairness.

Since Congress last acted to raise the minimum wage in two phases in 1996 and 1997, the value has eroded by more than 15 percent. In the past eight years, Members of Congress will have raised their own pay seven times - by $28,500. Yet, in those same eight years minimum wage workers have not received a single raise, continuing to earn only $10,700 a year working 40 hours a week, 52 weeks a year. This is $5,000 below the poverty line for a family of three.

According to the Economic Policy Institute (EPI), an estimated 7.3 million workers (5.8 percent of the workforce) would receive an increase in their hourly wage rate if the minimum wage were raised from $5.15 to $7.25 by June 2007. And, due to "spillover effects," the 8.2 million workers (6.5 percent of the workforce)earning up to a dollar above the minimum would also be likely to benefit from an increase.

The National Urban League believes that raising the minimum wage provides long overdue economic relief for millions of low-wage workers. It is also one important strategy towards closing the poverty gap that threatens American ideals of fairness and equality. According to the EPI, African Americans would benefit disproportionately from a minimum wage increase - African Americans represent 11.1 percent of the total workforce, but are 15.3 percent of workers affected by an increase in the minimum wage.

In its newly released The State of Black America 2005:Prescriptions for Change report, the National Urban League includes raising the minimum wage to $7.25/hour among its six recommendations for a renewed and energized focus on jobs, economics and wealth building in order to close the equality gap between blacks and whites in urban America. The National Urban League therefore calls upon Congress to act swiftly and enact this bill. Minimum wage workers have waited far too long for a just compensation for their labor and contribution to our economy.

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