Clergy members have hosted several Interfaith Economic Justice forums with the Center for Worker Justice over the past two months to hear from low-wage workers and to discuss how the issue of low-wages relates to their congregations, their faith traditions and their service to the community. As cities continued to debate whether to allow the county’s full minimum wage increase to take effect, the group decided to develop a statement reflecting their shared views.This conversation has been occurring for years, but it came to a head earlier this year when the Johnson County Board of Supervisors unanimously approved an incremental increase in the minimum wage within the county. Check out the milestones from the attached graphic. But there are plans to increase the wage to $10.10 per hour starting in January 2017 and then the minimum wage will be adjusted annually to reflect increases in the Consumer Price Index.
A few communities within the county -- notably Oxford, Solon, Swisher, and Shueyville have all rejected this wage increase and have lowered their city-wide minimum wage to $7.25 per hour.
Updated: It is worth noted that my own pastor, Rev. Bob Loffer of Faith United Church of Christ, is one of the signers though cannot attend tomorrow's press conference. He noted via email that he "will be present in prayer and will continue to support the work of the Consultation on Religious Communities actions to support the raising of the minimum wage."
