Establish a minimum wage of $9.24/hour or higher!
Why is this important?
Tennessee is one of only five states with no minimum wage. (Tennessee, South Carolina, Alabama, Louisiana, and thank God for Mississippi.) It's one of seven with a minimum wage lower than the federal standard. (Georgia, Wyoming and the states listed above)
Our state needs to enact a minimum wage of at least $9.24/hour. The average living wage of a single adult living alone in Tennessee, is $8.84/hour. In Shelby County, the living wage is $9.76/hour. In Davidson County, the living wage is $9.51/hour.
As you can see, in the state's two biggest counties, even the suggested minimum wage won't be enough to sustain a single adult there. However, we must remain reasonable, as our conservative legislature probably won't agree to a minimum wage of $10/hour. We need to tell our legislators to do their job and protect workers by giving them the right to bring home the amount of money needed to feed themselves.
