JOBS CAMPAIGN: Winning a Higher Minimum Wage for Maine

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In order to improve the quality of jobs available to the Valley's most vulnerable workers, and to strengthen the local economy through increased spending, the KVO Jobs Team decided in 2005 to support a statewide effort to raise the Maine minimum wage from $6.50 to $7.00 per hour over two years. For more on the reasons to support a higher minimum wage, click here.

Wage Justice Express

On February 14, 2006, KVO organized the "Wage Justice Express", which brought close to 20 leaders from the Valley to the State House to speak with their legislators about the minimum wage. The effort was covered by a television crew from News 8-WMTW, which broadcast a segment on it on the 6:00 news.

Pictures from the February 14 Wage Justice Express are below. Click on the picture to view a larger version. Use the "Back" button in your web browser to return to this page.

	KVO leaders ride the Wage Justice Express bus down to Augusta from Waterville and Skowhegan.
	Members of the Wage Justice Express take a moment in the Cross Office Building to discuss with one another why a higher minimum wage is important to them.
	Sen. Peter Mills meets with KVO leaders outside Senate chambers to discuss the need for a higher minimum wage.

VICTORY! - Governor Signs Minimum Wage Increase Into Law.

On April 13, 2006, Governor Baldacci signed L.D. 235 into law, raising Maine's minimum wage to $7.00 an hour by October 2007. Thanks in part to phone calls and personal visits by KVO leaders, the bill passed the legislature by the narrowest of margins.

Gov. Baldacci signs L.D. 235, "An Act to Raise Maine's Minimum Wage", into law. KVO 1st Vice President Rev. George Hodgkins looks on.