ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Tuesday, October 1, 1996 TAG: 9610010095
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: B-8 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: WASHINGTON
SOURCE: Associated Press
Nearly 4 million American workers are getting a pay raise today.
The minimum wage rises 50 cents to $4.75 an hour, the first of two increases enacted by a sharply divided Congress that will boost it to $5.15 an hour next Sept. 1.
The 90-cent raise means an additional $1,800 annually for a full-time worker. The last increase, 45 cents, was in April 1991.
``The minimum wage is not going to cure poverty in one fell swoop,'' Labor Secretary Robert Reich said in an interview. ``But clearly this is a major step forward for hard-working people at the bottom rung of our economy.''
The Bureau of Labor Statistics said 3.66 million hourly workers earn at or below the current minimum.
The wage package partly excludes workers who receive tips. Their employers will have to pay a minimum of $2.13 an hour, the same as before, and provide more only if the employees don't collect enough tips to earn the new minimum.
It also provides a ``training wage'' that holds the hourly rate at $4.25 an hour for employees younger than 20 during their first 90 days on the job.
- Associated Press
LENGTH: Short : 32 linesby CNB