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WASHINGTON - A coalition of more than 100 labor, civil rights and advocacy groups is backing new federal legislation to raise the minimum wage to $25 an hour, as Democratic lawmakers introduced a bill last week aimed at boosting pay nationwide and eliminating subminimum wages.
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Rep. Delia Ramirez, D-Ill., and Rep. Analilia Mejia, D-N.J., introduced the Living Wage for All Act on Tuesday, legislation that would raise the federal minimum wage to $25 per hour and eliminate subminimum wages.
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Mejia, a founding member of the Living Wage for All coalition, is championing the bill as her first legislative move after winning a New Jersey House seat in a landslide special election last week, defeating Republican Joe Hathaway.
She campaigned on a platform that included Medicare for all, a $25 minimum wage, a wealth tax, and abolishing Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
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The Living Wage for All Coalition describes itself as a national campaign made up of more than 100 labor, community, civil rights, and economic justice organizations advocating for a living wage for all workers in the United States.
Among the most prominent groups backing the legislation are the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), the American Federation of Teachers (AFT), and the National Education Association (NEA).merican Federation of Teachers (AFT), and the largest teachers' union in the U.S., the National Education Association (NEA).
What they're saying:
Another coalition member, One Fair Wage, is pushing for higher minimum wages nationwide.
"This is a worker-led movement that has grown from the groundbreaking Fight for $15 into a nationwide push for a true living wage," said One Fair Wage president Saru Jayaraman.
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"Across the country — from California to the Midwest to the East Coast — workers are organizing for $25 and $30 because that is what it takes to live," she said. "The polling shows this is not just popular, it is necessary. And ‘for all’ means exactly that: no worker left behind. This is what it looks like when politics begins to catch up to reality — and when democracy delivers real improvements in people’s lives, it becomes tangible. A living wage is how we make that promise real."
Big picture view:
Efforts to raise minimum wage mandates have already gained traction in several major cities.
In Los Angeles, a measure signed by Mayor Karen Bass sets the minimum wage on a path to reach as high as $30 an hour through a phased increase extending to 2030.
On the East Coast, the New York City Council is considering a proposal to lift the minimum wage to as much as $30, following newly elected Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s campaign pledge centered on a "$30 by ’30" plan.
Meanwhile, coalition member One Fair Wage launched a ballot initiative in Oakland, California, in March, as local officials weigh raising the minimum wage to $30 an hour in collaboration with community groups, including the United Auto Workers union.
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Under the proposal, large businesses with more than 100 employees and annual revenues of at least $1 billion would have until 2030 to meet the $30 hourly wage.
The effort is part of a broader national push to increase wages.
Since 2024, One Fair Wage has advanced ballot measures to raise pay and "end various subminimum wages" in Michigan, Ohio, Arizona and Massachusetts. In addition to California, the group is targeting wage increases in Illinois, New York, Maryland, Connecticut, Rhode Island, Hawaii and Puerto Rico.
According to its website, "One Fair Wage is moving legislation and ballot measures in 25 states to raise wages and end subminimum wages for millions of workers — and mobilize millions to vote in the process — by the United States’ 250th Anniversary (2026)."
The Source: FOX News contributed to this report. The information in this story comes from the text of the Living Wage for All Act and statements from its sponsors, Reps. Delia Ramirez and Analilia Mejia, as well as the Living Wage for All coalition and its member organizations, including One Fair Wage. This story was reported from Los Angeles.