MIAMI – Starting today, 18 Florida state legislators will have to pay for food, transportation and anything else they need with just $17 a day.

It's a part of a five-day Minimum Wage Challenge designed to bring attention to the plight of low-wage workers, and to bills in Tallahassee to raise the state minimum wage.

Patricia Walker, a home health care worker, says she works long hours, takes the bus to see clients and barely scrapes by.

"It's hard, because I have to make a choice sometimes between pay all of one bill and be able to feed myself,” she relates. “It's real hard I have to make a choice between everything I do."

A full-time minimum wage worker gets about $1,200 a month, and when you deduct basic living expenses it leaves around $17 a day.

The minimum wage legislation would raise it from $8.05 to $15 an hour.

Opponents say that would cost jobs, but proponents say studies of past wage hikes show that concern to be unfounded.

News conferences regarding the Minimum Wage Challenge are scheduled today in St. Petersburg, Orlando and Miami.

Florida established a minimum wage in 2004. It has risen in response to inflation, but State Sen. Dwight Bullard says that formula has been inadequate, leaving many workers in poverty.

"The minimum wage in Florida is far too low,” he stresses. “You have some estimations that say that if minimum wage kept up with cost of living it would be around $22."

Bullard is a sponsor of Senate Bill 6, which would raise the minimum to $15.

Elsewhere, the Fight for 15 campaign has scored some victories – Los Angeles, San Francisco and Seattle have adopted it, as has New York state for food service workers. Bills to raise the Florida minimum to $10.10 an hour failed in 2014 and 2015.




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AT&T customers may experience service disruptions as the worker's union, Communications Workers of America, initiates a strike to try to continue their negotiations with AT&T through what they claim is "bad faith" bargaining. The CWA, representing employees in the Southeast, has voiced concerns over AT&T's approach to new contract negotiations, citing issues related to health-care costs and decision-making at the bargaining table.

Michael Devane, president of CWA Local 3104 in Fort Lauderdale, expressed frustration with the company's representatives.

"Just basically kicking the can down the road. You know, just humoring people just going through the motions. Not really bargaining seriously. So District 3 filed an unfair labor practice charge against them, and that's why we are out on strike right now for that," he said.

"We remain committed to reaching a fair agreement with CWA District 3, and we have offered to bring in a federal mediator to ensure there is no question about either side's commitment to this process," AT&T said in a statement.

The company also assured customers that "business continuity measures are in place so that we can continue to provide our customers with the great service they deserve."

CWA members across the country will hold up signs at work on Thursday to show their solidarity.

One of several sticking points in the negotiations is the health-care plan. According to the CWA, AT&T is pushing for cost structures based on the company's national average, which does not reflect the lower health-care costs in the Southeast. Devane hopes for a good-faith effort by the company to negotiate.

"Well, I'd like to get this thing moving along there. There has to be some adults in the room and please get back to the table and let's get this thing done. We all have families. We take care of and company as customers. They got to take care of, and we'd like to get back to normal," he said.

As the union and company remain at an impasse, AT&T has proposed entering federal mediation. Customers in the region may experience service delays, as AT&T is currently operating with a reduced workforce during the ongoing strike.


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The next time you drive over a newly built highway in Minnesota, the concrete may have been poured by a Native American trained through a pre-apprenticeship program.

The effort is designed to create more career pathways for younger Indigenous adults.

Moke Eaglefeathers, apprenticeship coordinator for Cement Masons Plasterers and Shophands Local 633, has helped lead the 10-week training camp in New Brighton for the past several years. This year's session recently wrapped up. Before each summer begins, he travels to Native American reservations around the state to recruit participants. Those who sign up get a rigorous education on what it is like to do the work.

"We're teaching a skill that a robot will never be able to learn," Eaglefeathers pointed out.

He explained the training program's no-nonsense vibes illustrate how demanding cement mason work is, especially in the many types of weather Minnesota throws at outdoor workers. If they graduate, participants are on track for in-demand, financially stable union jobs. It is welcome news, with the Bureau of Labor Statistics noting Native Americans often have higher unemployment rates than the total population.

Eaglefeathers acknowledged they often do not see a perfect graduation rate but added it is acceptable because they do not want to set up participants for failure. For those who complete the training, their chances of a successful career are much greater than before they started.

"We normally have about an 80% to 90% job placement rate," Eaglefeathers reported. "Then, we put them with a contractor that's more their speed."

He stressed comfort level is another big part of a job which is both physically and mentally demanding. Eaglefeathers estimated most classes are filled with students in the 18 to 35 age range, with those closer to middle age occasionally signing up if they are seeking to reset their job path.


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Unions representing fast food workers are asking the state's new Fast Food Council to support a 70-cent-per-hour boost in the minimum wage at its next meeting on Sept. 11.

The minimum wage for fast food workers was recently raised to $20 an hour but it works out to just over $41,000 a year, which, in California, is significantly less than the average cost of living.

Linda Becker, director of regional partnerships in the Bay Area for the nonprofit Merit America, supports a higher minimum wage but said it is just a start.

"While raising the minimum wage offers an immediate paycheck boost for low-wage workers, it's just one piece of the puzzle," Becker explained. "We still really, firmly believe that a low-wage job should be a steppingstone and not a dead end."

Merit America offers intensive career counseling and online courses in IT support, data analytics, cybersecurity, project management and UX design. It costs nothing to start and a maximum of $5,700 total. According to Forbes magazine, it costs on average more than $53,000 a year to cover housing, medical care, food, transportation and taxes in California, the third-highest cost of living in the country.

Becker pointed out learners only start to pay Merit America back, at $95 a month, after they get a higher-paying job.

"The average wage gain that we see is about $24,000 a year," Becker reported. "Which is a significant, kind of life-changing increase of wages, post-program."

California's general minimum wage is $16 an hour. Over the next few years, the state is also phasing in a higher minimum wage, of $18 to $25 per hour, for certain health care positions.