Arizonans at the bottom of the wage scale will be getting a raise.
The state Industrial Commission voted Thursday to require employers to pay workers at least $7.65 an hour, beginning next year. That is a 30-cent-an-hour hike over the current figure.
It also means that the state minimum wage will be 40 cents higher than what is required under federal law.
Commissioners have that power — in fact, that requirement — because of a 2006 voter-approved initiative that created Arizona’s first ever minimum wage. Before that, employers in the state were covered under the federal law, which, at the time, allowed workers to be paid as little as $5.15 an hour.
That 2006 law also requires the commission to provide annual cost of living increases, computed according to the Consumer Price Index published by the U.S. Department of Labor.
wrtrblk posted at 1:22 pm on Fri, Oct 14, 2011.
The illegals complaining and protesting too low of pay? Is that why they raised it?
one of the last posted at 3:06 pm on Fri, Oct 14, 2011.
No, The legals Are complaining.the majority of Arizonans. We want to be able to feed our familys and by a new tarp to be our home since it also doesnt aford us rent money.