(Newswire.net — January 6, 2015) New York, NY — On New Year’s day, 20 states decided to increase minimum wage which cheered some 3.1 million Americans living on the edge of poverty. Some will get their paychecks expanded by as much as $1.25 per hour. Others, however, will not really feel the difference.
“The work that we do, it’s modern-day slavery,” says one Florida worker who just got a 12-cent raise.
On Dec. 31, New York raised state minimum wage from $8 to $8.75, which will directly benefit an estimated 437,000 employees. The budget increase is, of course welcome, however, the problem is that minimum wage workers often work two jobs to support their families. They often travel long distances from home to work and back, working 10 hours strait and feeing like modern slaves.
“I work two jobs, between 60 and 70 hours each week at minimum wage,” said Aracelly Cantos , who wakes every day at 5 a.m. “By the end of my shifts, my legs hurt. Everything hurts. I fall asleep when I get home. When you work so much, you don’t really have a social life. I want to work as much as I can now, while I’m young, so I can make my dreams happen,” she said.
Cantos said with two jobs she earn just enough to pay the bills and her two-bedroom apartment in Brooklyn Heights, where she lives with her mother for the past 22 years since they came from Ecuador. Besides $1,400 rent, most of her money goes to commuting and food: $30 weekly for a MetroCard, and $70 weekly for groceries.
“It’s hard to get excited about a minimum wage raise. I will still work between 60 and 70 hours each week. I will still barely make enough money to get by,” said Cantos.
Massachusetts minimum wage swelled from $8 an hour to $9 an hour, the country’s highest increase, however in St. Petersburg Florida this year it rose 12 cents, up from $7.93 to $8.05.
“The work that we do, it’s modern-day slavery.” said Roderick Livingston, 27 who works at a Florida Taco Bell emphasizing he’s never made more than $9 since he was 19 years old.
“Me and my kids, we can’t afford the things that we need. Anything that we want is a no-no,” he said.
“We’re not being compensated for the work we put in. Minimum wage, as it is now, is not a living wage. This 12-cent raise does not give us a living wage. It’s not just me, there are so many people out there, families out there, working hard to barely survive. People don’t want to party or anything like that. People just want to pay the bills.”