Stop the Subminimum Wage - Equal Pay for Equal Work

I am in strong opposition to SB1325 (Nicola). This bill creates a discriminatory subminimum wage that attacks young workers and locks in long term inequality. This is a cynical attempt to divide workers and weaken the labor movement. The most glaring problem with this bill is the creation of a separate, lower minimum wage for anyone under eighteen. Paying a minor employee just $12.30 per hour while their adult coworker does the same job for $15.00 is not a sensible accommodation. It is a license to exploit. A teenager working the same register, cleaning the same tables, or stocking the same shelves has the same bills, the same rent, and the same right to fair pay as any other worker. This provision tells young people that their labor is worth less and their time is less valuable. It entrenches the idea that some workers deserve poverty wages based solely on their age. This bill also eliminates the automatic cost of living adjustment that has protected minimum wage workers from inflation. After 2026, there is no mechanism for future increases. The General Assembly will have to act every single time the minimum wage needs to keep pace with the cost of living. We all know how difficult it has been to pass even modest increases. Stripping away the automatic adjustment is a guarantee that the real value of the minimum wage will erode year after year, pushing working families back into poverty. Finally, the bill extends coverage to public employers beginning in 2025. While this appears to be an expansion, it is actually a concession to the private sector. Public employers should already be covered. Celebrating their inclusion distracts from the bill’s core purpose: to carve out exceptions and slow down wage growth. We should be passing a single, livable minimum wage for every worker regardless of age or disability status. We should be restoring automatic cost of living adjustments. We should be moving toward a $20 minimum wage that lifts families out of poverty. SB1325 does none of these things. It divides us, it exploits the young, and it locks in wage stagnation for a generation. I urge you to vote no.