Unionized commercial cleaners, labor organizers and lawmakers gathered in Wilmington Friday in support of a $15 dollar minimum wage.
The state’s current minimum wage of $8.75 an hour rises to $9.25 in October.
A bill that would gradually raise Delaware’s minimum wage to $15 is being routed through a second state senate committee — and senate leadership says the earliest it will get a vote is next January.
“We’re still feeling hopeful,” said Daisy Cruz, Mid-Atlantic district director for 32BJ of the Service Employees International Union.“Even though it didn’t happen this time, we are really hopeful that it’s going to happen ... the next legislative session.”
State Rep. John Kowalko (D-Newark) said at Friday’s rally he will be disappointed if the bill sits idle until then.
“The people have waited all their lives,” he said. “They can’t afford to wait another six months ‘til everybody who sits in a comfortable position can say, ‘Oh, now we can defeat it — we have enough allies to defeat it.’”He called failing to put the bill to a full floor vote “reprehensible.”
Tracey Thuo, a member of 32BJ, cleans a building on Market Street. She says her current wage of $12.50 an hour isn’t enough.
“It’s really a struggle for me,” she said. “I have other expenses besides rent. Medication, and food and being able to go see family members that are out of state. It’s really a struggle for me. $15 would really mean big differences.”
Roughly 3,000 state employees currently make below $15 an hour.
