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Scott Walker Faces Lawsuit Over Minimum Wage

Scott Walker Faces Lawsuit Over Minimum Wage
Reuters
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FILE - In this Aug. 8, 2014, file photo, Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker addresses the Republican National Committee summer meetings in Chicago. Prosecutors investigating Gov. Scott Walker's recall campaign and more than two dozen conservative groups hope to convince a federal appeals court to overturn a judge's ruling that temporarily blocked the probe. (AP Photo/Kamil Krzaczynski, File)

By Jonathan Stempel

Oct 27 (Reuters) - A labor group in Wisconsin on Monday said it is suing Gov. Scott Walker to force him to raise the state's minimum wage of $7.25 per hour.

The group, Wisconsin Jobs Now, said the rate is too low, citing a state law requiring that workers be paid a "living wage," or an amount with which they can pay for basic needs.

It accused Walker, a Republican running for re-election on Nov. 4, of relying on a study by a major campaign contributor opposing an increase, the Wisconsin Restaurant Association, to justify keeping the minimum wage low.

"Gov. Walker has put the special interests over the needs of working families," Jennifer Epps-Addison, executive director of Wisconsin Jobs Now, said on a conference call with reporters.

The lawsuit seeks a finding that $7.25 per hour is not a living wage, and to force Walker to convene a commission to determine a new minimum.

A copy of the complaint was not immediately available. The complaint is being filed on Monday in the Dane County Circuit Court in Madison, the state's capital, the group said.

Walker's office referred a request for comment to the state's Department of Workforce Development.

John Dipko, a spokesman for that department, said his office will review the lawsuit after it is filed.

"Most of the complainants who are arguing the minimum wage is not a living wage are making more than the minimum wage - up to $15.07 an hour," he added.

Wisconsin law defines a living wage as compensation that is "sufficient" for workers to have "reasonable comfort, reasonable physical well-being, decency, and moral well-being."

On Oct. 6, the Department of Workforce Development rejected a call by Wisconsin Jobs Now and 100 workers for a higher minimum wage, saying it found "no reasonable cause" to believe the workers' wages were not a living wage.

According to the U.S. Department of Labor, Wisconsin last month was one of 19 U.S. states whose minimum wage was the same as the federal minimum. Three states had a lower minimum, and five states had no minimum.

Walker's Democratic gubernatorial opponent, Mary Burke, has advocated raising the state minimum wage to $10.10 per hour over two years. (Reporting by Jonathan Stempel in New York; Editing by Bernadette Baum)

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Before You Go

What Minimum Wage Haters Won't Say
Most Americans Support Raising The Minimum Wage(01 of10)
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Seventy-three percent of Americans support raising the minimum wage to $10 per hour and indexing it to inflation, according to a recent poll. (credit:AP)
Raising The Minimum Wage Would Boost The Economy(02 of10)
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Low-wage workers spend more when the minimum wage is raised, according to a 2011 study by the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago. This spending in turn boosts the economy and job growth, according to the Economic Policy Institute. (credit:AP)
Raising The Minimum Wage Does Not Hurt Employment(03 of10)
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A number ofstudies have found that raising the minimum wage does not reduce total employment by a meaningful amount. (credit:AP)
Having A Minimum Wage Has Kept More Teens In School(04 of10)
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The minimum wage has kept teens in high school longer by reducing the number of low-wage jobs available to them, according to one study. (credit:AP)
Prices Don't Always Rise In Response To Minimum Wage Increases(05 of10)
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Though Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) recently warned that raising the minimum wage would be "inflationary," prices apparently don't rise in response to minimum wage hikes. For example, fast food restaurants in Texas did not raise prices in response to federal minimum wage increases in 1990 and 1991, according to one study. (credit:Getty Images)
Letting The Minimum Wage Fall Could Increase Income Inequality(06 of10)
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The erosion of the minimum wage -- that is, the decline of its purchasing power as prices rise -- contributed to income inequality among poorer Americans in the 1980s, according to one study. (credit:Getty Images)
Worker Benefits Don't Get Cut In Response To Minimum Wage Increases(07 of10)
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Minimum wage increases did not lead to reduced worker benefits, according to two studies. (credit:Shutterstock)
Raising The Minimum Wage Does Not Shorten Workdays(08 of10)
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In New Jersey, employers did not cut their workers' hours in response to the state's 1992 minimum wage hike, according to one study. (credit:Getty Images)
Most Minimum-Wage Workers Are Adults(09 of10)
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Contrary to popular belief, 84 percent of minimum-wage workers are age 20 or older, according to the Economic Policy Institute. (credit:AP)
A Falling Minimum Wage Contributes To Obesity(10 of10)
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The erosion of the minimum wage has contributed to growth in U.S. obesity by making fast food cheaper and more popular, according to one study. Meanwhile, healthy food has become more expensive. (credit:Getty Images)
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