Steve DiMillo’s, of DIMillo’s Restaurant, Has Been a Portland Leader in the Opposition to Minimum Wage Increases.

By Carol McCracken  (Post # 2,568)

The Office of Maine’s Secretary of State today announced that Mainers for Fair Wages has succeeded in gathering the signatures necessary to place a referendum to raise the minimum wage before voters in the November 2016 general election according to a press release issued by Mike Tipping of the Maine People’s Alliance.

Of 86,438 signatures collected in total, 75,275 were found to be valid after being reviewed by town clerks and Secretary of State, far more than the 61,123 signatures necessary to qualify.  The large number of signatures all-but guarantees that there won’t be a challenge to the validity of the petitions.

If voters approve the initiative in November, Maine’s minimum wage will increase to $9.00 an hour in  2017 and then a dollar each year until it reaches $12.00 in 2020.  It will then increase with the cost of living.  The sub-minimum wage for tipped workers will also increase on a gradual basis until it reaches the full minimum wage after 2014.

“Raising the minimum wage means improving the lives of more than one hundred and thirty thousand Mainers who are working hard spending countless hours away from their families, frequently at more than one job and still can’t make ends meet, said Mainers for Fair Wages campaign manager Any Halsted.  “This campaign is about helping single mothers raising children and helping seniors who can’t afford to retire. It’s about creating a level playing field for local small businesses and boosting state economy by making sure Mainers who work hard aren’t earning poverty wages.”

The signature goal was reached through the help of hundreds of volunteers who circulated petitions and more than 5,000 individual donors who have so far contributed to raising $325,000 for the campaign, with an average contribution of just $35.00.

“We’re looking forward to building on he grass-roots movement that made this milestone possible and continuing a strong, engaging campaign through to November,” wrote Halsted in the press release.

Figurehead Strimling has indicated through the city spokesperson that he does support the minimum wage increase.

For more information, please call MIke Tipping at 207 – 966-0123 or email mike@mainepeoplesalliance.org