HARTFORD — Federal Secretary of Labor Thomas E. Perez will join Mayor Pedro Segarra, local workers and other politicians Monday morning at a roundtable discussion on raising the minimum wage.
The current federal minimum wage is $7.25 an hour. Connecticut’s minimum wage is higher, at $8.70 an hour, and is set to increase again on Jan. 1, 2015 to $9. During his State of the Union speech last month, President Barack Obama issued an executive order to raise the minimum wage for federal contract workers from $7.25 to $10.10 an hour. He also called on Congress to raise the minimum wage for all workers to $10.10 an hour.
Obama and Democratic lawmakers say raising the minimum wage would help reduce income inequality. But Republicans and some business owners say the increased costs would lead to companies cutting jobs.
Also present at the roundtable will be U.S. Sens. Chris Murphy and Richard Blumenthal, and Lt. Gov. Nancy Wyman. The discussion is set to begin at 9:30 a.m. at the Hartford Public Library’s downtown branch, 500 Main St.