Bernie Sanders is planning to introduce a bill to raise the minimum wage to $17 an hour, reigniting his long-standing battle to hike federal pay standards as income inequality and corporate profits grow.
Sanders confirmed to Insider that he will be introducing legislation to do just that on Thursday. He will be joined by workers and union leaders, including AFL-CIO President Liz Shuler and SEIU International President Mary Kay, according to a media advisory. Currently, the federal minimum wage is $7.25, an amount unchanged since 2008. With rising inflation, the wage is worth less than it has been in decades.
"There are millions of workers in this country who are working literally on starvation wages, eight nine, ten bucks an hour," Sanders told Insider. "Two years ago, we proposed a $15 an hour minimum wage as a result of inflation. $15 is now the equivalent of $17."
"I think all over this country, you're seeing states on their own voting to raise the minimum wage," he added. "We have not raised the minimum wage here in Congress."
Sanders has long pushed for a higher federal minimum wage, although he's been more recently stymied by centrist Democrats. His most recent attempt was to include a $15 minimum wage as part of President Joe Biden's 2021 stimulus...
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