President Donald Trump has revoked an govt order from his predecessor that elevated the minimal wage for federal contractors, a transfer that would find yourself stripping low-wage staff of a pay increase.
In an order issued Friday, Trump stated he was rescinding greater than a dozen insurance policies carried out by former President Joe Biden. A number of of the Biden-era reforms had been aimed toward bettering office circumstances, together with one which set a wage ground of $17.75 per hour this yr for labor carried out for the federal authorities.
Trump stated in his order that killing the minimal wage increase and different measures would “restore common sense” and “unleash the potential of American citizens.”
The Service Staff Worldwide Union, which represents members who work for presidency contractors, stated in a press release that Trump’s coverage would “open the door to roll back wages.”
“This is yet another anti-worker move from an administration that promised to deliver jobs with higher wages, lower the cost of eggs and improve our economy for working families,” stated SEIU’s president, April Verrett. “This executive order does none of that. Instead, it makes life harder for hundreds of thousands of hard-working Americans who keep our government running behind the scenes in good and bad times.”
“Trump said in his order that killing the minimum wage raise and other measures would ‘restore common sense’ and ‘unleash the potential of American citizens.’”
There’s a lengthy historical past of the federal authorities utilizing its contracting energy to set fundamental requirements within the office, by setting increased wage flooring and barring discrimination amongst corporations that take federal {dollars}. The Trump administration has been working exhausting to undo that custom, partially by gutting the Labor Division’s contract compliance workplace.
Trump’s revocation of Biden’s minimal wage order would presumably not result in rapid pay cuts, however as a substitute apply to new or renewed contracts with the federal government transferring ahead. The Labor Division didn’t instantly remark Tuesday when requested for readability on that time.
Contract staff would nonetheless be coated by federal or state minimal wage statutes, in addition to the federal government’s prevailing wage charges, which set sure minimums in keeping with job classification. However for a lot of staff, these charges can be under those the Biden administration had set, which means they’ll find yourself with decrease pay because of Trump.
When the Biden administration introduced the brand new minimal charge in 2021, it estimated that greater than 300,000 staff would get a increase due to it.
A lot of these staff are employed in low-wage service jobs, cleansing authorities buildings and dealing in cafeterias or eating places on federal properties. The raises took place largely due to activism by teams like SEIU, which argued that the federal authorities shouldn’t underwrite poverty jobs by means of the procurement course of.
The 2021 Biden rule initially set the brand new minimal wage at $15. That quantity had been the rallying cry of the SEIU-backed Battle for $15 motion, which spearheaded employee strikes within the fast-food business for years. However the reform additionally tied the wage ground to an inflation index in order that it rose with the price of dwelling, resulting in the $17.75 charge for 2025.
“The bottom line is we really want to make sure we are leveraging the purchasing power of the federal government to ensure fair wages for workers across the country,” a Biden official stated on the time.
The federal minimal wage stays simply $7.25 per hour and prevails in any state that doesn’t mandate the next one. Democrats have tried for years to lift the federal charge, together with throughout Trump’s first presidency, however have been stymied by Republican opposition.
Trump himself has flip-flopped repeatedly on the problem of elevating the minimal wage, at occasions suggesting he backed the concept, solely to reverse himself. He as soon as stated he needed to lift and never increase it on the identical time.
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“Well, I would leave it and raise it somewhat,” he informed Invoice O’Reilly in 2016. “You need to help people. I know it’s not very Republican to say but you need to help people.”
