PAGE 2 | April 17, 2015 | NORTHWEST LABOR PRESS
Minimum wage campaign fills Oregon Capitol hearing rooms
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140
SALEM — Supporters and op-
ponents of raising Oregon’s min-
imum wage traded volley after
volley of public testimony at a
joint legislative committee hear-
ing April 13. Over 100 people
signed up to testify at the hear-
ing, and it lasted more than three
hours.
The hearing was held jointly
by the Oregon House Business
and Labor Committee, chaired
by State Rep. Paul Holvey (D-
Eugene) and the Oregon Senate
Workforce Committee, chaired
by Sen. Michael Dembrow (D-
Portland). The two committees
are considering a total of 10 bills
that would raise the minimum
wage in varying amounts and as
high as $15 an hour, or that
would remove a state law bar-
ring cities from passing their
own higher minimum wages.
“Oregonians can’t wait five or
10 years for the fair wage they
deserve,” said House Speaker
Tina Kotek (D-Portland), the
first person to testify in favor.
“Just raising it a dollar would not
do enough.”
After hearing from Kotek and
fellow increase supporter State
Rep. Jessica Vega Pederson (D-
Portland), lawmakers took testi-
mony from alternating panels of
three or four supporters or oppo-
nents, with each person given
Supporters of the group 15 Now hold an impromptu rally in the Oregon
Capitol rotunda April 13 before a joint House-Senate committe hearing
on raising the minimum wage.
two minutes to speak. Members
of the public who came to the
Capitol to watch or testify filled
the hearing room as well as three
overflow rooms, where they
watched the hearing via video
link.
“I just want a wage that lets
me live in dignity,” testified Ore-
gon AFSCME Local 3214 mem-
ber Linda Peterson, who works
with developmentally disabled
adults for a non-profit in Eugene.
Panel after panel of small
businesses lined up to testify
against raising the minimum
wage, while some other small
businesses—members of the
progressive Main Street Al-
liance—spoke for it. Big busi-
nesses appear to have sat out the
hearing, which was held in the
evening to allow regular mem-
bers of the public to testify.
Several restauranteurs warned
of dire consequences, including
higher prices, lower profit mar-
gins, and servers who would be
replaced with touch screen or-
dering devices—if the minimum
wage were raised. A rye grass
grower said she’d bring in for-
eign labor. An athletic club
owner said he might lay off
towel boys and use vending ma-
chines to dispense towels. An
Outback Steakhouse executive
said the company would be un-
able to open any new restaurants
in Oregon if the minimum wage
goes up.
Among the stranger specta-
cles was a panel of young Re-
publicans, including a self-de-
scribed “future politician” in a
white bowtie and suspenders,
and a clean-cut Salem Chamber
of Commerce supporter who
fretted that raising the minimum
wage would cause members of
the working class to have less
motivation.
But the testimony was more
personal than theoretical for a
trio of Oregon School Employ-
ees Association (OSEA) mem-
bers who talked about their daily
struggles of living life in poverty
—Corvallis School District
“lunch lady” Deanna Lundgren,
West Linn instructional assistant
Cynthia Muñoz and South Eu-
gene night custodian Windy
Wiebke.
“I can’t pay my bills with self-
esteem,” Wiebke said.
At Oregon’s current mini-
mum wage of $9.25, a full-time
year-round worker would gross
just $19,000.
The two committees sched-
uled separate work sessions
April 20 at which they could dis-
cuss the bills further, and vote to
recommend one or more of
them.