WHITE HOUSE VIDEO MESSAGE: Give America a Raise

THE WHITE HOUSE

Office of the Press Secretary

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EMBARGOED UNTIL 6:00 AM ET, SATURDAY, April 26, 2014

WHITE HOUSE VIDEO MESSAGE: Give America a Raise

WASHINGTON, DC – In this week’s message, Office of Personnel Management Director Katherine Archuleta discussed the importance of raising the minimum wage so that all hard working Americans earn the pay that they deserve. 

Remarks of Katherine Archuleta

Spanish Weekly Address

The White House

Hi, my name is Katherine Archuleta and I am the Director of the Office of Personnel Management.  In the President’s State of the Union Address, he talked about a pizza chain in Minneapolis – Punch Pizza – whose owner, John Soranno, made the business decision to give his employees a raise to ten bucks an hour.

A couple weeks ago, the President received a letter from a small business owner who watched that night.  Yasmin Ibrahim is an immigrant who owns her own restaurant – Desi Shack.

Here’s what she wrote.  “I was moved by John Soranno’s story.  It got me thinking about my…full-time employees and their ability to survive on $8 an hour in New York City.”  So a few weeks ago, Yasmin put in place a plan to lift wages for employees to at least $10 an hour by the end of this year. 

Yasmin isn’t just raising her employees’ wages because it’s the right thing to do.  She’s doing it because it makes good business sense. 

Yasmin wrote, “It will allow us to attract and retain better talent – improving customer experience, reducing employee churn and training costs.  We believe doing so makes good business sense while at the same time having a positive impact on the community.”

She’s right.  That’s why, two months ago, the President issued an Executive Order requiring workers on new federal contracts to be paid a fair wage of at least ten dollars and ten cents an hour.

But in order to make a difference for every American, Congress needs to do something.  Right now, there’s a bill that would boost the minimum wage to ten dollars and ten cents an hour.  That would lift wages for nearly 28 million here. 

And while not all of us always see eye to eye politically, one thing we overwhelmingly agree on is that nobody who works full-time should ever have to live in poverty.  That’s why nearly three in four Americans support raising the minimum wage. 

That’s why this fight is so important.  That’s why people like John and Yasmin are giving their workers a raise.  That’s why several states, counties, and cities are going around Congress to raise their workers’ wages.  That’s why the President will keep up this fight.  Because we know that our economy works best when it works for all of us – not just a fortunate few.  That’s what opportunity is all about.

It’s time for “ten-ten.”  It’s time to give America a raise. 

Thanks, and have a great weekend.

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The audio of the address and video of the message is available online HERE.