Washington, D.C. — Seattle struck a giant blow to inequality this year when—after months of consensus building by business, labor, and community leaders—it put its minimum wage on course to hit $15 per hour in 2017. On Wednesday, September 10, the Center for American Progress will host Seattle Mayor Ed Murray, who will deliver keynote remarks outlining how the city passed its $15 minimum wage and how that success can serve as a blueprint for other cities trying tackle inequality while kick starting job growth.
Seattle’s victory came only a few weeks after 41 Republicans in the U.S. Senate refused to raise the federal minimum wage to $10.10 per hour, a figure below its real 1968 value. Mayor Murray’s remarks will focus on what Seattle’s minimum-wage victory can teach other cities and Washington, D.C., about inequality, job growth, and the middle class.
Following the remarks, Center for American Progress Action Fund President Gov. Ted Strickland will also moderate a discussion focusing on how local minimum-wage increases strengthen the middle class and local economies. The panel of experts includes Mayor Murray; Nick Hanauer, entrepreneur and partner at Second Avenue Partners; Valarie Long, international executive vice president at the Service Employees International Union, or SEIU; and Michael Reich, professor of economics and director of the Institute for Research on Labor and Employment at the University of California, Berkeley.
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WHO:
Welcoming remarks:
Neera Tanden, President, Center for American Progress
Keynote remarks:
Ed Murray, Mayor, Seattle, Washington
Featured panelists:
Nick Hanauer, Partner, Second Avenue Partners
Valarie Long, International Executive Vice President, SEIU
Ed Murray, Mayor, Seattle, Washington
Michael Reich, Professor of Economics and Director of the Institute for Research on Labor and Employment, University of California, Berkeley
Moderated by:
Ted Strickland, Counselor, Center for American Progress; President, Center for American Progress Action Fund
WHEN:
Wednesday, September 10, 2014
12:00 p.m. ET – 1:30 p.m. ET
WHERE:
Center for American Progress
1333 H St. NW, 10th Floor
Washington, D.C., 20005
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For more information on this topic, contact Allison Preiss at 202.481.6331 or [email protected].
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