Fair Minimum Wage Campaign
Victory!
NJ Passes Minimum Wage Increase!
On April 12, 2005, Gov. Richard Codey signed legislation to increase the state's minimum wage for the first time in six years, taking the rate to $6.15 an hour in October 2005 and $7.15 in October 2006, up from $5.15 an hour. You can learn more in the Star-Ledger article, "Codey OKs Hike In Minimum Wage".
About the Minimum Wage for NJ's Workers
Here is information on why we are proud to have fought — and won! — this campaign: NJCA called for a raise in the minimum wage because workers were not getting what they deserve. It had been seven years since NJ's minimum-wage workers received a wage increase.
In 1992 New Jersey had the highest minimum wage in the country at $5.05 while the federal wage was $4.25. NJ's minimum wage at $5.15 an hour had been last set by the federal government in 1997. According to the Current Population Survey of 2003 averages, put out by the Federal Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), 75,000 New Jersey workers are paid $5.15 an hour or less.
Someone working 40 hours per week at that minimum wage grosses $10,712 in a year, in a state in which the cost of living is one-third higher than the national average.
People in New Jersey can not afford to pay for basic necessities let alone adequate housing. The average cost for a two-bedroom apartment in NJ is $1,200 a month, at $5.15 an hour a person would need to work three jobs just to get by.
We are very proud to have played a part in this VICTORY for New Jersey's workers!
Dates to Remember
1938: Federal minimum wage was adopted as part of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA).
1992: NJ increased the minimum wage to $5.05-then the highest in the nation-while the federal wage was $4.25.
1997: The Federal Government raised the national minimum wage from $4.75 to $5.15.
1999: NJ adopted a law requiring that the state minimum wage not exceed the federal level — which at the time was the current $5.15 — or go below it.
Minimum Wage Across the U.S.
States Above the Federal Minimum Wage
| State | Minimum Wage |
| Washington* | $7.35 |
| Oregon* | $7.25 |
| Alaska | $7.15 |
| Connecticut | $7.10 |
| Vermont | $7.00 |
| California | $6.75 |
| Massachusetts | $6.75 |
| Rhode Island | $6.75 |
| Illinois | $6.50 |
| Maine | $6.25 |
| Hawaii | $6.25 |
| Dist. of Columbia | $6.15 |
| Delaware | $6.15 |
| Florida* | $6.15 |
| New York** | $6.00 |
* Indexed to inflation
** New York's minimum wage will be $6.75 on 1/1/06 and $7.15 on 1/1/07
Links to Reports
- Report: Slip Slidin' Away: $5.15 an Hour Isn't Enough by Susan J. Bottino.
- Minimum Wage Fact Sheet.
- Fairness Alliance Call for $7.50 Minimum Wage Press Release.
For more information, also see the press articles in NJCA in the News.