Lamont touts state minimum wage rise in Bridgeport
BRIDGEPORT — Friday is the end of the work week, and it is also the day when workers will start seeing an extra few bucks in their paychecks.
The state’s minimum wage is set to increase Friday from $13 an hour to $14. The increase is a result of a 2019 state law mandating a phased-in $15 minimum wage by 2023. According to the state’s Department of Labor, the wage increases will affect an estimated half-million workers by 2024.
The federal minimum wage by comparison is $7.25 an hour, which has remained the same since 2009.
“For too long, while the nation’s economy grew, the income of the lowest earning workers has stayed flat, making already existing pay disparities even worse and preventing hardworking families from obtaining financial security,” Gov. Ned Lamont said Monday.
Lamont, Mayor Joe Ganim and other state officials marked the coming pay hike Monday at Full Circle Youth Empowerment in Bridgeport. Director Janeen Reid praised the increase, saying it will help teens.
“Especially with this increase in the minimum wage, it really positively impacts our youth,” Reid said.
But according to Juliemar Ortiz, a community activist and former press secretary for Lt. Gov. Susan Bysiewicz, the increase is not enough. Ortiz, who is also attempting to petition her way onto a Democratic primary ballot for state Senate, said the increase was just too small to help out working families.
“While the minimum wage increase was an important step in the right direction, we can’t ignore the fact that $14 or $15 are still not livable wages in Connecticut,” Ortiz said.
According to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Ortiz is right.
MIT’s living wage calculator shows Bridgeport is an expensive city to live in. According to the calculator, which includes Bridgeport in a demographic region with Stamford and Norwalk, a living wage for a single person with no children is $19.67 an hour.
Lamont said the increases would help low income workers.
“This is a fair, gradual increase for workers who will invest the money right back into our economy and continue supporting local businesses in their communities,” Lamont said.
While Ortiz said the increases aren’t enough, it is a significant increase over the state’s $8.25 minimum wage a decade ago. That number increased to $10.10 an hour in 2019 when Public Act 19-4 passed.
But while the new minimum wage will be capped at $15 an hour by 2023, the state has mandated the minimum wage will be pinned to the U.S. Department of Labor’s Employment Cost Index starting in 2024. That means the state will adjust its minimum wage according to changes in inflation.
However, the increases aren’t happening fast enough according to Ortiz, who said something has to be done to help workers now.
“As the cost of housing, gas, and groceries continue to rise at alarming rates, we need government officials to take bold action to ensure economic security for workers and their families,” Ortiz said.