I grabbed a great seat for Tuesday's State House hearing on the minimum wage. I wanted a seat with a good view of the folks testifying. Rachael Collins and her colleagues from the Restaurant Opportunities Center United slid into seats next to me. By noon, Gardner Auditorium was filled to capacity . 

The SEIU 1199 organizer sitting to my left shared good information with me. His personal story itself was a testimony to the value of a strong bedrock minimum wage. His parents were teens when he was born, which judging by his salt and pepper hair might have been in the late seventies. In his childhood, they supported themselves through minimum wage work.

He also told me about a conversation he had with a hardware store owner. The owner said that at a $15/hr minimum wage, he would hire only adults, no teens. Presumably, in his view, teens are not mature enough take the responsibility of work. If that's the sentiment of most employers, it could be bad news for teens. On the other hand, employers should take to heart their responsibility to hold a teen employee accountable as they would an older one.

I remember a good friend telling me that her teenage son, who wouldn't pick up a wet towel in the bathroom let alone keep his room neat or remember to take out the trash, was a completely different person at his job at a CVS store. He was consistently on time and on task at the store. She gave the store manager and the paycheck credit for the new man she saw in her son.

Teens, especially in lower income levels, have financial obligations to themselves and their families that they might not have had years ago. They need and deserve the full minimum wage to start off their work career.

Regrettably, I had to leave the hearing early. The panels of speakers in support of the badly needed wage increase were extraordinary. It's clear to me and to just about all the people in the auditorium that the time to raise the wage to $15/hr for workers has come---regardless of their age.

Over the summer, we are highlighting aspects of our Shared Prosperity Agenda. Our members are sharing their experiences and expertise on Education, Healthcare, Housing, Jobs and Wages, and Progressive Revenue.

This week we are focusing on Jobs -- Within five years, every job in Massachusetts should pay at least $15/hour, and everyone should have access to safe, affordable transportation; a good first step would be an increased minimum wage, indexed to inflation, and earned sick time.

Matthew Szafranski, the author of this post, is the Editor-in-Chief of Western Mass Politics & Insight (WMassP&I), a Springfield-based political blog. Read more from WMassP&I here and contribute to the blog's fundraising campaign to maintain its operations through this particularly busy political 2014 cycle in Western Massachusetts.

Come January, tipped employees in Massachusetts will receive their first raise in over 15 years. The increase will be meager $1.12. The full minimum wage will rise to $11 from $8. Still, this time, the most vulnerable workers affected by minimum wage laws are not completely forgotten thanks in part to the work of Raise Up Massachusetts and the Shared Prosperity Agenda of Progressive Massachusetts.

Grassroots organizers and the Raise Up MA campaign has been working hard over the last week to make a mediocre House bill better, through the Amendment process (see previous recap).

As activists head to Beacon Hill today to advocate for a strong minimum wage bill, let’s do a quick recap of where we are.

On Saturday, Progressive Needham, Progressive Newton, and the Wellesley and Needham Democratic Town Committees sponsored a screening of Robert Reich’s Inequality For All, which explores how the middle class and working poor are being systematically squeezed by an economic system ruled by privileged elites and corporations, and abetted by politics corrupted by money.

Over 80 people came to watch the film, and participate in dialogue afterward with Mac D’Alessandro, about the scale of the problem and how we start mobilizing to make changes. (take a look at the Storify of the event!)

When the minimum wage stays the same, year after year, it loses value because of the rising cost of inflation. $8 today buys less than it did 5 years ago, and will buy even less 5 years from now.

Our powerful grassroots pressure is working! We have pushed the House of Representatives to release a proposal to increase the minimum wage. Speaker DeLeo outlined his minimum wage proposal today that increases the minimum wage to $10.50 an hour.

There's More Work to Be Done

But the proposal doesn't link the minimum wage to the rising cost of living, and doesn't do enough for tipped workers, who haven't gotten a raise since 1999.

BOSTON GLOBE TAKES A LOOK AT THE RESTAURANT INDUSTRY

FEB. 16: IGNORED RIGHTS

Unpaid work, threats of deportation, and outright wage theft plague the restaurant industry.

FEB. 17: TIPPING

Meant as a reward, tips instead make up much of a worker’s pay — if the money even gets to them.

FEB. 18: FAST FOOD

Higher wages for fast-food jobs would benefit workers, business, and government.

FEB. 19: UNIONS

Restaurant workers need to fight for their rights. So why aren’t they organizing?

Over at Massachusetts Budget and Policy Center, they have crunched some numbers about who will be affected by a Massachusetts restoration of the minimum wage to $10.50 an hour (returning to its 1968 value). The results are staggering: 

Increasing the minimum wage would give hundreds of thousands of Massachusetts workers a raise and provide them and their families with additional resources to pay for basic necessities. A full-time minimum wage worker in Massachusetts makes $16,000 in 2013, about $5,000 less (when adjusted for inflation) than he or she would earn if the minimum wage had maintained its value since 1968 (which was equal to about $10.72, or $21,440 a year, in today's dollars).

Increasing the minimum wage to $10.50 by 2016 would raise the wages of approximately 568,000 workers. 

[updated 3/30/2014]

TIME CRITICAL: VOTE ON KEY MINIMUM WAGE PROVISIONS ON WEDNESDAY, APRIL 2!

After months of waiting, the House released its minimum wage legislation. The vote on the bill (H3983) is WEDNESDAY, APRIL 2. As Speaker DeLeo has long indicated they would be, the minimum wage provisions have been curbed in deference to the business lobby. Specifically:

• No indexing to cost of living (guaranteeing the wage will lose value every year)

• Inadequate increases for tipped workers

THOSE PROVISIONS CAN BE RESTORED VIA TWO AMENDMENTS, filed by Rep. Holmes and Rep. Farley-Bouvier. But the grassroots must push Legislators to vote for them, and push back against increasing institutional momentum to pass a diminished minimum wage bill.

CALL the legislative switchboard 617-722-2000 -- ask to be transferred to your State Representative's office.

SCRIPT/TALKING POINTS:

BILL H3983, Rep. Holmes's Indexing Amendment #50, Rep. Farley-Bouvier's Tipped Wages Amendment #88.  

• My name is [YOURNAME] and I live in [YOURTOWN].  I am calling to find out if [YOURREP] will become a champion for a strong minimum wage bill:

  • I understand that Minimum Wage debate is on Wednesday.

  • Will [YOUR REP] VOTE YES on Rep. Holmes's amendment to index the minimum wage to inflation? 
     (Bill H3983, Amendment 50)

  • Will [YOUR REP] VOTE YES on Rep. Farley-Bouvier's amendment to raise the tipped wage higher?
    (Bill H3983, Amendment 88)

Take notes! Then, let us know you’ve called (so we can track outreach) and whatever you find out about your Rep’s disposition.

>> Report the results of your call here

You already know -- this kind of grassroots action is most powerful when others join us. Please tell your networks about the urgency of the issue and ask them to call ASAP!

>> Go Further: Make noise on social media! Find your Rep's social media accounts, here: progressivemass.com/ma_legislators_contact

RETURN TO MAIN RAISE UP PAGE: ProgressiveMass.com/raiseup 

MORE INFO ON "INDEXING": ProgressiveMass.com/indexing