Green Party of Florida supports $15/hour minimum wage

July 4, 2014 - PRLog -- In honor of our Independence Day, the Green Party of Florida (GPFL) stands 100% behind the fight for the $15 minimum wage.  The Green Party 2012 presidential slate of Jill Stein and Cherri Honkala (http://15now.org/endorsers/solidarity-statements/) have written:

“Thank you, Seattle, for leading the way in this national fight for our economic lives!  We write to express our gratitude and support for the $15 Now campaign…Working people across the country are inspired and encouraged by your campaign for a $15 dollar an hour minimum wage, which carried Kshama Sawant to her historic election to the Seattle City Council…We must follow their lead by building a broad national movement in the fight for 15 Now.

We in Florida heartily concur.  We now fully support the efforts of $15 Now to bring the $15 minimum wage to Florida, and beyond Florida, Greens support a living wage everywhere — world wide

Article X, Section 24(a) of this state’s Constitution declares:

“(a) PUBLIC POLICY. All working Floridians are entitled to be paid a minimum wage that is sufficient to provide a decent and healthy life for them and their families, that protects their employers from unfair low-wage competition, and that does not force them to rely on taxpayer-funded public services in order to avoid economic hardship.”

The Platform of the GPFL states:

“The Green Party of Florida supports living wage laws because they allow families to prosper, promote dignity in the workplace, and will even result in a reduction of government services as real salaries increase. We reject any attempts by the state or national governments to restrict the rights of communities to enact such ordinances.”

We therefore support the struggle for $15/hour at every level, from strikes to boycotts against individual employers, to legislation by city and county governments, with immediate implementation and without exemptions or exceptions.  $15/hour must apply to all workers, young and old alike, documented and undocumented, without discrimination.  Undue hardship for true small businesses is to be eased through subsidies from the State of Florida, commensurate with the longstanding subsidies the state gives to the nuclear power and real estate industries.

We demand that the Florida State legislature pass a $15/hour minimum now.

We demand that the State legislature repudiate the illegal and unconstitutional Statute 218.077(2), which states that:

“[A] political subdivision may not establish, mandate, or otherwise require an employer to pay a minimum wage, other than a state or federal minimum wage … or to provide employment benefits not otherwise required by state or federal law.”

We demand that the State of Florida transform the promise of Article X, Section 24(a) from sweet words into a living, breathing reality for all Floridians.