YES on Amendment 42

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Voter's Guide to the 2006 ballot
Bell Action Network

A Just Minimum Wage: Fast Facts for Faith Communities
Lutheran Advocacy Ministry of Colorado

Opportunity Lost: When Hard Work Isn't Enough for Colorado's Families
Bell Policy Center

A Just Minimum Wage: Good For Workers, Business and Our Future
Faith and Community Voices Against Poverty

See who's supporting Amendment 42!
Click here.

Dear Friends,

This is a very busy and exciting time of year for all of us who want a better future for our state. I want to thank all of you for your continued efforts and hard work to make Colorado a more just and prosperous place to live. This is why I am writing you today. Through Amendment 42, the minimum wage increase, Colorado voters have a rare opportunity to vote on an issue this November that will demonstrate a belief that all working people should have a job that grants them diginity and fair pay. Raising the minimum wage is the fair thing to do and it the right thing to do.

Don't be fooled by our opposition's message. Their claims that a wage floor should not go into our state's constitution is smoke and mirrors to make you vote no. The constitution is the only place to put a wage floor--and right now that floor is a dirt floor--only you can make it better. Putting Amendment 42 in the state's constitution is the only way we can ensure that politicians won't tinker with a vote of the people. A constitutional amendment is the way we as Coloradans say that we value low-income people's fight to gain a better life for themselves and their families.

Those of us in the middle of the income brakets can sometimes lose sight of what it's like to continually struggle. Almost all of us have seen an annual raise in our pay--and almost always more than a cost of living allowance. Minimum Wage workers have not seen a raise in ten years, not even for cost of living. I think ten years is long enough. We all know prices for everything from toilet paper to gasoline to milk to rent has increased a lot in ten years, and most people's wages have risen with those costs. But imagine being someone who makes $5.15 per hour, struggling to pay for the goods that we pay for everyday. It's almost impossible. Amendment 42 can help to alleviate some of the financial burdens our low-wage workers face every minute of every day. It is not going to make them rich, but it's a start, and a definitely step in the right direction.

So I ask everyone who knows right from wrong, who knows truth from lies, to vote Yes on Amendment 42 on November 7th.

In Solidarity,

Steve Adams, President
Colorado AFL-CIO
Coalition Committee Chair, Coloradans For A Fair Minimum Wage

Modestly raise the minimum wage to $6.85 per hour. The wage is then adjusted for inflation annually.

Stop the inflationary shrinking of wages in Colorado. Tying the minimum wage to inflation will keep us from having to vote on this every few years.

Help working families. The majority of workers who would be affected by an increase in the minimum wage are adults, and many of them are trying to raise their children on a steadily shrinking income.

7 Days @ Minimum Wage
ACORN and the AFL-CIO bring you 7 real people with 7 real stories of living on the minimum wage.
Begins 10/23

John Edwards discusses Colorado's minimum wage
Recorded live 8/15/06, a conference call with hundreds of Colorado residents.
ProgressNowAction Media

Video: Linda Meric of National Association of Working Women debates Christine O'Donnell of Respect Colorado's Constitution on Amendment 42
9NEWS, 9/26/06

Boon or bone?
On Election Day, Colorado could vote for a 33 percent increase in the minimum wage — and it still may not be enough
Colorado Springs independent, 9/21/06

Minimum-wage proposal most popular ballot item
Rocky Mountain News, 9/20/06

Minimum wage plan fuels fairness debate
Colorado Springs Gazette, 9/20/06

Labor Day coincides with debates over minimum wage
Cañon City Daily Record, 9/2/06

Ethics, wage and marriage initiatives make Nov. ballot
Denver Post, 8/15/06

The wage conundrum
Denver Post, 8/5/06
Oprah Winfrey's Minimum Wage Special

Quicktime video
Courtesy ThinkProgress

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