Bishops, Catholic Charities call for minimum wage increase

Published: 2007-01-09

WASHINGTON (CNS) -- The U.S. bishops and Catholic Charities USA have called for an increase in the federal minimum wage. "The minimum wage needs to be raised not just for the goods and services a person can buy but for the self-esteem and self-worth it affords," said Bishop Nicholas DiMarzio of Brooklyn, N.Y., chairman of the U.S. bishops' Committee on Domestic Policy, in a Jan. 8 letter to members of Congress. In a Jan. 9 statement Catholic Charities USA joined in the call for increasing the minimum wage, as it prepared to unveil a plan Jan. 10 called the Campaign to Reduce Poverty in America, with a specific target for reducing the poverty rate over time. The House was expected to vote Jan. 10 on a bill to raise the minimum wage from $5.15 an hour to $7.25 an hour by 2009.

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