The Oregon School Employees Association is supporting state legislation that would gradually increase the minimum wage to $15 per hour. About 65 OSEA members from all over the state rallied and marched on Jan. 24, joining a crowd of about 500 at the Capitol in Salem, because raising the wage would lift thousands of Oregon families out of poverty.

“There are many reasons for us to increase Oregon’s minimum wage. In fact, there are 200,000 reasons—that’s the number of Oregon children who live in households below the federal poverty line,” OSEA President and AFT Vice President Tim Stoelb told the crowd. “The majority of OSEA members work in K-12 schools. Our members see the struggle of working families to make ends meet reflected in the faces of their students every day. I stand before you to ask all Oregonians to demand an end to an employer’s ability to legally pay poverty wages.” (OSEA photos)

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