FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Progressive Dane
PO Box 1222
Madison, WI 53701

Contact:

Patrick DePula, Progressive Dane Steering Committee: 345-8083

News Release
March 4, 2004

PROGRESSIVE DANE SIGNS ON TO MADISON FAIR WAGE

Progressive Dane, Dane County's independent progressive political party, has endorsed the effort by Mayor Dave Cieslewicz and seven city council members to raise Madison's minimum wage to $7.75/ hour.

Recognizing the impossibility of supporting oneself in Madison on $5.15 an hour, Progressive Dane's membership decided to enter the fray and help make a livable minimum wage a reality in Madison.

Mayor Dave Cieslewicz expressed gratitude for the party’s endorsement of the initiative. “As a member of Progressive Dane, I’m very pleased to have its organizational support on this issue. The minimum wage has remained stagnant for seven years and its buying power has steadily decreased. As a direct result, many families have been driven deeper into poverty," said Mayor

Cieslewicz. "We've heard from roughly 13,000 people who signed petitions supporting a higher minimum wage and proponents outnumbered opponents 6-1 at my public hearing. It's a matter of economic justice.”

Progressive Dane members also formed an ad hoc task force to work on bringing the wage debate to the public and to actively involve local businesses in the discussion.

"Progressive Dane's members are very concerned about stagnant wages, which haven’t kept pace with inflation and have resulted in diminished buying power for wage earners. In Madison, like elsewhere, the minimum wage has not been linked to the Consumer Price Index and as a result, Madison workers also have to contend with skyrocketing housing costs that have far outpaced those in other parts of the state. We recognize that small local businesses face their own set of economic difficulties, and want to include them in creating a fair wage that works. We also want to help find additional ways the city can support its local businesses and their employees, such as forming health insurance pools and strengthening local support of small businesses," said Patrick DePula of Progressive Dane's Steering Committee. "Economic justice and a thriving local business community should be able to go hand in hand, and we plan to explore ways to encourage that synergy."

Progressive Dane members also plan to work on gaining the support of undecided alders and to defend the ordinance against efforts to weaken it.

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