Our state has one of the lowest minimum wages in the region. The benefits of increasing it are clear.
In March, the majority of Delaware’s Senate approved legislation that would increase our state’s minimum wage, gradually raising it from $9.25 to $15 an hour by 2025. This month, House legislators are expected to vote on the minimum-wage bill, which would boost incomes for over 100,000 hard-working Delawareans and help to revitalize our state economy. Let’s hope they approve it and that Gov. John Carney quickly signs it into law. Diligent Delawareans simply can’t wait.
In Delaware, hourly workers haven’t seen a minimum-wage increase since 2019, when it was raised to $9.25 an hour, among the lowest levels in the mid-Atlantic region. While this is higher than the federal minimum wage — which has been stuck at $7.25 an hour since 2009 — it isn’t enough to support a family. A person working 40 hours a week should be able to afford a roof over their head and food on the dinner table. They should be able to live and raise their family in dignity. That’s what Delaware’s minimum-wage bill, which was introduced and is being championed by Sen. Jack Walsh, D-Stanton, will help to achieve.
I am a strong believer in the power of a higher minimum wage and have seen its impact firsthand. I’ve been an Amazon employee for nearly a decade and currently oversee the company’s largest fulfillment center in Delaware. In 2018, when Amazon made the decision to implement a $15-an-hour starting wage for every employee (including temporary and seasonal employees), I saw the immediate impact on employee morale and the surge in job applicants.
Many employees were able to afford long-put-off home and car repairs, send their children to extracurricular activities, pay for tuition and eliminate credit card debt. For some, being paid at least $15 an hour meant they no longer needed to have a second job. This made our teams happier, healthier, more productive and better able to serve our customers. Amazon’s $15-an hour starting wage — as well as the comprehensive health care, paid-leave, retirement and tuition-reimbursement benefits that the company provides it employees — became a critical recruiting and retention tool for managers like me and helped to strengthen our teams and operations.
It’s worth noting that Delaware’s low minimum wage greatly impacts minority communities and female workers. If Sen. Walsh’s bill is signed into law, more than a third (39%) of workers from Black, Hispanic and Asian communities in Delaware would get a raise. Importantly, 6 in 10 of these workers are women, and one-quarter of those who would benefit from a minimum-wage increase are supporting children. In addition to helping families, numerous studies demonstrate that when hourly workers have larger paychecks, spending increases and local businesses benefit.
Beyond all these benefits, increasing the minimum wage is the right thing to do. During the pandemic, we’ve heard a lot about the essential workers who have contributed immensely to keeping life as “normal” as possible and keeping our economy afloat. Many of these essential workers are minimum-wage earners who have sacrificed to help us all make it through the last year as best we can. They deserve more than recognition and praise for their efforts. They deserve to earn an income that improves their lives and enables them to provide for their families.
As we begin to recover from the impact of the pandemic, Walsh’s minimum-wage bill represents an important opportunity to support employees, families and communities across our state. As someone who has seen firsthand the swift, positive impacts of hourly-wage increases, I urge Delaware’s House leaders to prioritize passing this bill.
Brian Fontenot is a director of operations at Amazon. He oversees the company’s fulfillment center in Middletown and lives with his wife and children in Lewes.
