The Portland Restaurant Workers Association (PRWA) is a community group of workers committed to promoting Solidarity, Support, & Education among food-and-beverage service workers in our city.
Dishing It Out
Dishing It Out is the PRWA’s blog covering local topics within the restaurant worker community. Our city, our industry, our stories. Email story leads to dishingitout@pdxrwa.org.
Oregon Minimum Wage to Increase $ .30
by William Pilgrim
9/18/2011Oregon’s minimum wage will rise from $8.50 to $8.80 on January 1, 2012, the Oregon Bureau of Labor and Industries (BOLI) announced September 15th. This is a small but significant ongoing victory for Oregon workers. In most of the country minimum wage is $7.25 per hour, and a ridiculous $2.13 per hour for tipped employees.
In Oregon the minimum wage applies to most workers and this means that all workers in Oregon are getting a raise next year. While the raise is designed only to match annual inflation (the overall yearly increase in prices), this wage increase, though small, means more money will be kept in our communities in the form of wages, and helps keep the gainfully employed out of abject poverty.
This wage translates into $18,000 per year before Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, Income, and other taxes, barely enough for a single person to get by on, and certainly not enough for a family.
Know Your Rights!
Know Your Rights!: A Restaurant Worker’s Survival Guide was researched, written and published by restaurant workers in the PRWA. Learn more about your rights: English or Spanish.
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Are your rights being violated at work? Interested in knowing what you can do to secure your rights? Contact the PRWA’s Workers Support Committee with your questions.
