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You heard President Obama say that in his rousing State of the Union Address last week in which he once again called on Congress to raise the minimum wage. 2014 is a year of action and Secretary Perez has wasted no time hitting the ground.
In case you missed it, last week he was with President Obama at a Costco store in suburban Maryland just outside Washington, D.C. where they highlighted a business that knows that investing in its workers is good for the bottom line – that higher wages leads to better employees and better business (check out the Secretary’s blog below). Secretary Perez also visited a locally owned hardware store where the employees all make about $10 per hour (coverage below). The store’s owner, Gina Schaefer, is a firm believer in paying her workers well to retain them longer and get a better return on her investment, and that raising the minimum wage will be good for communities and the national economy.
On Monday, Secretary Perez was in New Jersey with Senator Booker to meet with workers there and hear how an increase in the federal minimum wage will benefit them (story below).
Also last week, Secretary Perez hit the airwaves with appearances on MSNBC’s Morning Joe and The Diane Rehm Show.
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February 5, 2014
The Diane Rehm Show
U.S. Labor Secretary Thomas Perez on The Diane Rehm Show
February 4, 2014
Morning Joe
White House pushes to raise minimum wage
February 3, 2014
U.S. labor secretary joins Steve Fulop, Cory Booker at minimum wage roundtable
 By Terrence T. McDonald
U.S. Labor Secretary Thomas E. Perez joined Jersey City Mayor Steve Fulop and U.S. Sen. Cory Booker at a Jersey City community center today, where they were joined by seven low-wage workers as part of an Obama administration push to increase the federal minimum wage.
Perez said Obama, who in last week’s State of the Union called on Congress to hike the minimum wage to $10.10, would in a few weeks sign an executive order mandating that all federal contractors pay their workers that hourly rate instead of $7.25, the current federal minimum wage.
“The executive order is a start, but it’s not a finish,” Perez said today. “And it’s meant to really make sure we practice what we preach … we’re demonstrating you can do it.”
The executive order would cover dish washers, janitors and other low-wage federal contractors.
Marc Freedman, executive director of labor policy for the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, which is opposed to a wage hike, told The Jersey Journal that it would affect small businesses that are already struggling to figure out how they will be impacted by the Affordable Care Act.
"Increasing their labor costs will be yet another burden that will impede their ability to hire more people or keep providing the same level of hours they are currently providing," Freedman said.
But for Booker, a Democrat, raising the minimum wage would allow the United States to “be the kind of nation we say we are.”
“We know we have families that work full time but still find themselves below the poverty line,” he said.
Consuelo Evans, 57, of Jersey City, was one of the low-wage workers who appeared on today’s panel. Evans said she makes about $20,000 total at two jobs in the healthcare industry.
That’s enough to pay her rent and a few bills, but not enough for her to obtain medical insurance, she said.
“After I pay expenses, I have $80 left,” Evans said. “It’s really devastating.”
Perez also praised Jersey City for being the first in New Jersey to mandate that most private businesses provide paid sick leave to their workers.
“Jersey City’s ahead of the country in that regard,” he said, adding that the issue will be “front and center” at a working families summit Obama will attend later this year.
http://www.nj.com/hudson/index.ssf/2014/02/us_labor_secretary_joins_steve_fulop_cory_booker_at_minimum_wage_roundtable.html
January 30, 2014
 America Deserves a Raise
Thomas E. Perez
U.S. Secretary of Labor
It's time to give America a raise. That was one of the basic, core messages in President Obama's State of the Union address Tuesday night. He called on Congress to do what 21 states and the District of Columbia have already done -- increase the minimum wage so that working people have enough in their paychecks to provide for their families.
Forward-looking companies get that this makes smart business sense. That's why the president and I visited a Costco store in Lanham, Md., the morning after his speech. Costco pays their workers good wages with benefits, while selling good products at competitive prices and remaining quite profitable.
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