SUBSCRIBE TO OUR FREE NEWSLETTER
Daily news & progressive opinion—funded by the people, not the corporations—delivered straight to your inbox.
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
A sign held during a Fight for 15 rally in Chicago in 2014.
(Photo: Anna Waters/flickr/ccc)
Alabama Just Passed Fast-Tracked Bill Blocking Any City From Raising Minimum Wage
'This is a clear indication that the plight of the working class is of no relevance to the GOP'
Feb 26, 2016
Workers in Alabama's biggest city were days away from having their minimum wage lifted. And then state lawmakers swiftly crushed Birmingham's increase--and any other city's potential effort to do the same.
As local news ABC3340 reports,
Earlier this week, Birmingham City Council passed an ordinance speeding up the implementation of its $10.10 minimum wage. It was slated to go into effect Sunday, after being published in the newspaper.
The Alabama Senate had a bill to block it on the fast track. It had its first reading Tuesday, went to committee Wednesday and had its final reading and vote Thursday.
Less than an hour after the Senate passed the bill, Gov. Robert Bentley signed it into law.
It not only retroactively blocks the Birmingham increase; it also prevents any of the state's other cities from setting their minimum wages.
"Alabama is a poor state. But I say we are poor by choice, because of bills like this that keep people poor," MSNBCreports State Sen. Linda Coleman-Madison (D) saying during the measure's over three-hour debate.
The Birmingham City Council responded on Thursday, calling the law "a severe blow to the working-class citizens of this state."
"This is a clear indication that the plight of the working class is of no relevance to the GOP," stated City Council President Johnathan Austin. "Never before in the history of Alabama's post-segregation era has a bill so detrimental to the very people who most of us depend on daily... been fast-tracked in the State Legislature."
"When the same lawmakers who excitedly give millions of dollars in tax breaks to corporations making millions of dollars in profits off the backs of hardworking Alabamians do not require these same for-profit businesses to provide a decent living wage to their employees, it's a disgrace and shameful," he continued.
"It is indeed a sad day in the State of Alabama."
On January 20th, it begins...
Political revenge. Mass deportations. Project 2025. Unfathomable corruption. Attacks on Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid. Pardons for insurrectionists. An all-out assault on democracy. Republicans in Congress are scrambling to give Trump broad new powers to strip the tax-exempt status of any nonprofit he doesn’t like by declaring it a “terrorist-supporting organization.” Trump has already begun filing lawsuits against news outlets that criticize him. At Common Dreams, we won’t back down, but we must get ready for whatever Trump and his thugs throw at us. Our Year-End campaign is our most important fundraiser of the year. As a people-powered nonprofit news outlet, we cover issues the corporate media never will, but we can only continue with our readers’ support. By donating today, please help us fight the dangers of a second Trump presidency. |
Our work is licensed under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0). Feel free to republish and share widely.
Workers in Alabama's biggest city were days away from having their minimum wage lifted. And then state lawmakers swiftly crushed Birmingham's increase--and any other city's potential effort to do the same.
As local news ABC3340 reports,
Earlier this week, Birmingham City Council passed an ordinance speeding up the implementation of its $10.10 minimum wage. It was slated to go into effect Sunday, after being published in the newspaper.
The Alabama Senate had a bill to block it on the fast track. It had its first reading Tuesday, went to committee Wednesday and had its final reading and vote Thursday.
Less than an hour after the Senate passed the bill, Gov. Robert Bentley signed it into law.
It not only retroactively blocks the Birmingham increase; it also prevents any of the state's other cities from setting their minimum wages.
"Alabama is a poor state. But I say we are poor by choice, because of bills like this that keep people poor," MSNBCreports State Sen. Linda Coleman-Madison (D) saying during the measure's over three-hour debate.
The Birmingham City Council responded on Thursday, calling the law "a severe blow to the working-class citizens of this state."
"This is a clear indication that the plight of the working class is of no relevance to the GOP," stated City Council President Johnathan Austin. "Never before in the history of Alabama's post-segregation era has a bill so detrimental to the very people who most of us depend on daily... been fast-tracked in the State Legislature."
"When the same lawmakers who excitedly give millions of dollars in tax breaks to corporations making millions of dollars in profits off the backs of hardworking Alabamians do not require these same for-profit businesses to provide a decent living wage to their employees, it's a disgrace and shameful," he continued.
"It is indeed a sad day in the State of Alabama."
Workers in Alabama's biggest city were days away from having their minimum wage lifted. And then state lawmakers swiftly crushed Birmingham's increase--and any other city's potential effort to do the same.
As local news ABC3340 reports,
Earlier this week, Birmingham City Council passed an ordinance speeding up the implementation of its $10.10 minimum wage. It was slated to go into effect Sunday, after being published in the newspaper.
The Alabama Senate had a bill to block it on the fast track. It had its first reading Tuesday, went to committee Wednesday and had its final reading and vote Thursday.
Less than an hour after the Senate passed the bill, Gov. Robert Bentley signed it into law.
It not only retroactively blocks the Birmingham increase; it also prevents any of the state's other cities from setting their minimum wages.
"Alabama is a poor state. But I say we are poor by choice, because of bills like this that keep people poor," MSNBCreports State Sen. Linda Coleman-Madison (D) saying during the measure's over three-hour debate.
The Birmingham City Council responded on Thursday, calling the law "a severe blow to the working-class citizens of this state."
"This is a clear indication that the plight of the working class is of no relevance to the GOP," stated City Council President Johnathan Austin. "Never before in the history of Alabama's post-segregation era has a bill so detrimental to the very people who most of us depend on daily... been fast-tracked in the State Legislature."
"When the same lawmakers who excitedly give millions of dollars in tax breaks to corporations making millions of dollars in profits off the backs of hardworking Alabamians do not require these same for-profit businesses to provide a decent living wage to their employees, it's a disgrace and shameful," he continued.
"It is indeed a sad day in the State of Alabama."
We've had enough. The 1% own and operate the corporate media. They are doing everything they can to defend the status quo, squash dissent and protect the wealthy and the powerful. The Common Dreams media model is different. We cover the news that matters to the 99%. Our mission? To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. How? Nonprofit. Independent. Reader-supported. Free to read. Free to republish. Free to share. With no advertising. No paywalls. No selling of your data. Thousands of small donations fund our newsroom and allow us to continue publishing. Can you chip in? We can't do it without you. Thank you.