LEXINGTON, Ky. – With Kentucky's minimum wage stuck at $7.25 an hour, the battleground to improve pay for low-income workers has shifted to the local level.

In December, the Louisville Metro Council voted to gradually move the minimum wage in Jefferson County to $9 an hour by 2017.

Now, the state's second largest city, Lexington, is considering an increase to $10.10 an hour.

Lilly May, a full-time college student who works two part-time, minimum-wage jobs in Lexington, says $7.25 tamps down access to higher education.

"And if you're constantly trying to get that through a minimum wage job where you also have to pay bills, and possibly support a child, it's just never going to happen,” she states. “So, it ends up being really cyclical."

The Kentucky Senate killed a proposed statewide minimum wage increase in both the 2014 and 2015 legislative sessions. Republican leaders maintain raising the floor on pay would lead to fewer jobs.

Sarah Thomas, a server at a Lexington restaurant, says an increase is long overdue and believes it would not be a job-killer.

"All this is really doing is making sure that businesses aren't going to take advantage of their workers,” he stresses. “That they're not going to be able to pay them less than a living wage, and $10.10 isn't even a living wage in Lexington, but it's a definite increase that will help workers."

Thomas says she plans to attend a Raise the Wage Rally Friday afternoon in downtown Lexington.

The proposal to increase Fayette County's rate to $10.10 over three years is now before a committee of the Lexington Urban County Council.

May wants to debunk the image she says some people have of the minimum wage – that it's for high school students who need gas money.

She has message ready for council members.

"I would say we are all worth more, because currently my goals, right now, are to save up for graduate school because I feel it's a complete necessity and that's just not happening," she says.

According to the Kentucky Center for Economic Policy, raising the minimum wage would impact more than 31,000 workers in Lexington, because one out of every five is making below $10.10 an hour.





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In January, low-wage workers in Tennessee will be missing out on pay hikes seen in 23 other states.

In the new year, the minimum wage will reach or exceed $15 an hour for some or all employees in eight states and 47 cities and counties.

Jeff Strand, director of public policy for the Tennessee Disability Coalition, said the state's current minimum wage of $7.25 an hour is simply too low, especially for people with disabilities. He pointed to research showing it costs more to live with a disability in Tennessee, making a higher wage even more crucial.

"Nationwide, it cost 27% more income to achieve a same standard of living as someone without a disability, if you have a disability," Strand explained. "In Tennessee, that number is 51% more income to achieve that same standard of living. That low level of wages and income has a much bigger effect on people with disabilities."

In 14 states and 39 cities and counties, the minimum wage will rise in 2025 due to cost-of-living adjustments, according to the National Employment Law Project.

The U.S. Department of Labor recently proposed a rule to eliminate even lower subminimum wages for workers with disabilities. Strand emphasized Tennessee has already abolished the subminimum wage, and he advocates for other states to follow suit.

"We were actually able to ban subminimum wage for people with disabilities," Strand pointed out. "Prior to that piece of legislation, there would be these places -- we'd consider them, like, sheltered workshops -- where just people with disabilities were doing rote, repetitive tasks all day and getting paid, you know, a buck-25 ($1.25) or something like that."

The Labor Department is inviting public feedback on the proposed rule until Jan. 17 to be considered in the rulemaking process.


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Massachusetts unions and worker-owned cooperatives are joining forces to help tackle the state's historic wealth gap.

Census data show just a handful of households now have average incomes nearly 14 times larger than the bottom 20%.

Kevin O'Brien is a worker-owner with the unionized Worx Printing Cooperative in Worcester. He said workers increasingly want a say in workplace conditions, greater job security, and a piece of the profits.

"The more they know and understand about cooperative ownership," said O'Brien, "I think the sky is kind of the limit on what they'll be able to do, to combat this wealth gap."

O'Brien said there's great potential for more worker-owned co-ops, due to the impending "silver tsunami" of retiring small business owners - who will need to sell or transfer their assets.

He said the co-op model is already in place for businesses to replicate, while unions can help provide the resources co-ops need - including access to capital.

The number of worker-owned cooperatives in Massachusetts has tripled over the past decade.

About 40% of these co-ops have a majority of worker-owners of color, who may lack other means to build generational wealth.

Soren Rose is a worker-owner at Circus Cooperative Café in Cambridge.

He said he's proud to be part of a wider movement toward worker empowerment and café unionization, including the recently formed Blue Bottle Independent Union.

"We have so much in common with the struggles of our union comrades," said Rose, "and we like to share resources, and make sure that we're all joining in a broader fight for good working and living conditions, in the Boston area and Northeast as well."

Rose said some café customers come for the coffee - others to support the co-op model, too.

State lawmakers have created a new state agency to develop that model further and a nearly $8-million technical assistance fund of small grants to help.




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When the calendar flips to January, a number of states will increase their minimum wage levels - but just like recent years, North Dakota won't be among them. Those pushing for changes plan to try again.

North Dakota's minimum wage hasn't gone up in 15 years, standing firm at $7.25 an hour - also the federal level.

Meanwhile, many other states in this part of the country have gradually boosted theirs above $10.

State Rep. LaurieBeth Hager - D-Fargo - said she made this a big priority while serving in North Dakota's Legislature.

She echoed what some in the research community have noted, about giving low-income populations the power to lift themselves out of poverty.

"If people are making more, and have more buying potential, more earning potential," said Hager, "their whole life and their whole dreams can be entirely different."

And while researchers say these moves might not lead to big job losses, there are lingering concerns about employers turning to automation.

Hager said she doesn't have a firm number for a forthcoming bill this session, but she said she plans to keep it around $9 to make it easier for small businesses to absorb.

Republicans still control both chambers, and Hager said she plans to seek approval in placing the issue before voters - as opposed to a simple Legislative vote like last session.

Citizen-led ballot questions also are options and have worked in other conservative-led states - but Hager said that can be a thorny issue in North Dakota, even if voters say yes.

Meanwhile, Landis Larson - president of the North Dakota AFL-CIO - said skeptics might argue about costs being passed along to consumers or other drawbacks.

But he added that not making adjustments for low-wage earners can be felt in other ways.

"You know, if you look at it another way," said Larson, "most of those people are on some kind of government programs that actually everyone pays for in the long run."

A 2021 report from the U.S. Government Accountability Office found that millions of American adults earning low wages rely on federal programs, like Medicaid, to meet basic needs.

Nationwide, more than 20 states and nearly 40 cities will increase their minimum wage rates when the new year begins.




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