My biggest pet peeve about working in any retail establishment is the fact that minimum wage workers are the ones that are keeping their company afloat, while the big CEOs sit around and collect profits. The minimum wage workers, who are keeping the company alive, are not valued for their hard work. They are treated as a dime a dozen, usually get little-to-no recognition, and rarely get any benefits. This needs to stop.

Here in Maine, raising the minimum wage to $12 would benefit me in many ways. I currently work two part time jobs at close to minimum wage, plus I help my parents with their business. With these three jobs, I still don’t make enough to get by. It would be nice to work only one job, have more time off to enjoy life, and enough income so I could get ahead in my bills and get out of debt. At this point I don’t even have any retirement savings. I also had a potentially fatal illness and a lot of my income in the past few years has gone to a huge chunk of medical expenses.

To me, economic fairness means that no one gets left behind, that everyone has equal opportunities for job advancement, decent pay, adequate recognition for a job well-done, and decent benefits.

Reprinted with permission from Mainers For Fair Wages.