Maryland bishops: raise the minimum wage

January 24, 2014

The bishops of Maryland have called upon legislators to raise the state’s minimum wage.

“As early as the late 19th century, Pope Leo XIII recognized the principle that workers should be paid a wage sufficient to support a family as ‘a dictate of natural justice more imperious and ancient than any bargain between man and man,’” the bishops stated.

“A full-time worker earning the state's current minimum wage of $7.25 earns little more than $15,000 annually, hardly enough to pay for food and rent, let alone support a family,” the bishops added. “More than 80 percent of the state's low-wage earners are adults, and many are parents trying to provide the necessities of life for their children. They deserve the comfort of knowing that their hard work can provide the means they need to achieve economic stability for themselves and their families.”

The bishops also said that “the majority of Maryland's low-wage workers have no access to paid sick leave, leaving them to choose between coming to work sick or losing a day's wage. It is in the best interests of all to enact reasonable policies that keep our workplaces healthy by allowing workers to stay home when they or their dependent family members are sick, without undue penalties.”

 

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Further information:

• The dignity of work (Maryland Catholic Conference)