http://blog.aflcio.org/2006/10/23/%e2%80%987-days-minimum-wage%e2%80%99-premieres-today/‘7 Days @ Minimum Wage’ Premieres Today
by James Parks, Oct 23, 2006
What’s life really like when you make at or near the minimum wage? Beginning today, workers will tell their experiences trying to make ends meet and support a family on the minimum wage on “7 Days @ Minimum Wage,” a video blog (vlog) event, sponsored by the AFL-CIO and ACORN. In the first installment, Paul Greg Valdez and his partner, Susan Windham, describe how he breaks his back every day for about $35.
Hosted by comedienne Roseanne Barr, “7 Days @ Minimum Wage” runs Oct. 23–30 and features interviews with seven workers describing life at or near the federal minimum wage, which has been frozen at $5.15 an hour since 1997.
In the vlog, Valdez says:
The minimum wage is just too low. Gas and food and housing, everything is going up and the minimum wage is staying the same. No, that’s not right.
You can see an excerpt from today’s “7 Days @ Minimum Wage” vlog by clicking here. Or watch the full installment at
http://sevendaysatminimumwage.org/.The AFL-CIO union movement has spearheaded America Needs a Raise campaign to raise the minimum wage at the state and federal level. The campaign has provided momentum to put the issue of raising the minimum wage on the Nov. 7 ballot in six states: Arizona, Colorado, Missouri, Montana, Nevada and Ohio. (Congress will be in session for a few days after Nov. 7. Tell your lawmakers: It’s time for a real vote to raise the minimum wage. Send an e-mail here.)