Sims backs airport workers' fight for fair wage; Also supports higher minimum wage for all

PHILADELPHIA, Nov. 19 – State Rep. Brian Sims, D-Phila., said today he stands not only with the Philadelphia International Airport workers who are striking today but also all the workers in this nation who are struggling to survive on low wages.

"It is long past the time to raise the minimum wage in this country, and today I'm proud to support those hardworking men and women demanding fair pay. The current $7.25 minimum wage has not even come close to keeping up with inflation or keeping full-time workers out of poverty. That is why I am again co-sponsoring legislation to raise the minimum wage in Pennsylvania, including a bill that would phase in a raise to the $15 level the airport workers are seeking.

"These workers play a critical role in ensuring the safety of air travel in our nation, and it is reprehensible and irresponsible to value that service at anything less than an adequate living wage. As we have tragically experienced, ensuring these workers are diligent and professional should be a fundamental concern of every airline operating in this nation and abroad.

"In 2015, the airline industry is expected to pull in roughly $29 billion in profits. We cannot allow massive corporations and industries to continue treating workers as dispensable and leave unchallenged baseless claims that an increase in workers' wages would somehow hurt business.

"Since Franklin Roosevelt said in 1933, 'By living wages, I mean more than a bare subsistence level - I mean the wages of a decent living,' our nation has been guided by the elemental principle that no American who works full time should have to struggle in poverty. Since the minimum wage was adopted over 75 years ago, corporate special interests have been fighting to undermine it.

"It is government's responsibility to ensure the public is not exploited to further line the pockets of massive and extremely profitable corporations. We can no longer allow corporate special interests to erode the middle class in our nation and those who believe in this core principle of the United States must make it known that those men and women pushing for fair pay have our unwavering support."