Birmingham City Council Strikes Back Over Minimum Wage Bill

Esther Ciammachilli | February 22, 2016

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1675806059 
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Birmingham City Hall.

Esther Ciammachilli, WBHM

The Birmingham City Council is once again trying move up the effective date of its minimum wage increase. This is in response to the fast tracked steps the State Legislature is taking to block this action.

The council could vote to move up the effective date from March 1 to Wednesday, February 24.

Republican Representative David Faulkner of Mountain Brook introduced legislation that would essentially block cities in Alabama from making changes to their minimum wage. The bill has already passed the House and could come up for a vote in the Senate this week.

“The legislators are taking a stance in front of the door to livable wages in Alabama the same way that George Wallace took a stance in the school house door for education,” says Birmingham City Council President Johnathan Austin.

Rather than implementing incremental increases to eventually reach a minimum wage of $10.10 and hour by 2017, the city council could also vote to increase the minimum wage to $10.10 an hour effective Wednesday.

Alabama does not have a state minimum wage and uses instead the federal minimum of $7.25 an hour.