Deputies approve C048, hiking minimum wage to $15

Deputies on June 29 approved a resolution continuing support from previous conventions for advocacy and policies to provide a living wage, and advocating for an increase in the hourly minimum wage to $15 per hour.

Deputy Sarah Lawton of California, development coordinator for the University of California at Berkeley’s Labor Center, spoke in support of Resolution C048. She told the gathering that raising the minimum wage doesn’t lead to job loss but rather stimulates the economy and productivity. She said the moral question is, “In this gulf between those who are well off and those who are really struggling, where will the church stand?”

Deputy David Sevigny of the Diocese of Lexington opposed it because “it fails to address our own stewardship. My guess is that many of the church structures have employees paid much less than $15 per hour. So please, please we cannot point out the speck in the eye of our government until we pull the log out of our own.”