On May 25, the U.S. Congress approved an increase in the federal minimum wage, from $5.15 to $7.25 an hour over
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Despite giving themselves eight pay raises, Congress had not passed a wage hike for workers in nine years. This is the longest period without a wage increase since the federal regulation passed in 1938. Because of inflation, a $5.15-an-hour wage has a lower value than the minimum wage did in 1955.
The measure was attached to the Iraq war funding bill. Sixty days after Bush signs the bill, as expected, minimum wage workers will see their pay rise to $5.85. Wages will hit $7.25 two years later.
The increase is estimated to affect 13 million workers who earn less than or a fraction more than the minimum wage. But it is by no means a wage on which most workers can live. Businesses got a 4.8 billion dollar tax break as a reward for “agreeing” to the meager wage hike.
