CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — The minister who heads the Arkansas Interfaith Alliance says concern for the poor should prompt Congress to pass an increase in the minimum wage.
The Rev. Stephen Copley says the current minimum wage of $7.25 an hour barely covers food and shelter in much of the country, and drives many hardworking men and women to food banks and homeless shelters.
He says, "A job should keep you out of poverty, not keep you in it."
A bill introduced in the U.S. House (H.R. 6211) would raise the minimum wage in three increments over the next couple of years to $9.80 an hour. The Secretary of Labor would then be empowered to set the minimum wage for each following year.
Copley, a United Methodist minister, is in Charlotte, N.C., this week for an interfaith panel on immigration. It's being held at a church across the street from the Democratic National Convention.
Sound:
%@AP Links
229-w-31-(Steve Coleman, AP religion editor, with the Rev. Stephen Copley, director, Arkansas Interfaith Alliance)--The minister who heads the Arkansas Interfaith Alliance says concern for the poor should prompt Congress to pass an increase in the minimum wage. AP Religion Editor Steve Coleman reports. (3 Sep 2012)
<<CUT *229 (09/03/12)>> 00:31
231-a-06-(The Rev. Stephen Copley (KAHP'-lee), director of the Arkansas Interfaith Alliance, in AP interview)-"who are poor"-The Rev. Stephen Copley, director of the Arkansas Interfaith Alliance, says it seems immoral to him to pay people the current minimum wage. ((cut used in wrap)) (3 Sep 2012)
<<CUT *231 (09/03/12)>> 00:06 "who are poor"
232-a-08-(The Rev. Stephen Copley (KAHP'-lee), director of the Arkansas Interfaith Alliance, in AP interview)-"getting them ahead"-The Rev. Stephen Copley, director of the Arkansas Interfaith Alliance, says the current minimum wage at 40 hours a week amounts to just over $15,000 a year. (3 Sep 2012)
<<CUT *232 (09/03/12)>> 00:08 "getting them ahead"
