Raising Minnesota’s minimum wage expected to be hot issue
Scott Coykendall lost a $63,000-a-year job a few years ago, had one for a while at around $17 an hour, and for the past few months has worked full time at Domino’s for the federal minimum wage of $7.25.
The Robbinsdale man, 43, is divorced, sharing custody of two school-age kids, living in a two-bedroom place for $919 a month, and he’s been struggling.
He’s had to borrow money and sell some of his stuff. He’s been using the food shelf and Toys for Tots, organizations he used to donate to. He’s also been buying groceries a day or two at a time because he can’t scrape up enough for a week or two’s worth.
“We eat over at my mom’s a lot,” Coykendall said. “It’s demeaning.”
Coykendall secured a higher-paying job this week, which should help.
But the experience he’s had trying to make ends meet on minimum wage is the kind of thing state lawmakers have in mind when they talk about the need to bump it up.
“Minnesota workers are working hard and not able to survive (and) support themselves,” said state Rep. Ryan Winkler, DFL-Golden Valley, sponsor of the minimum-wage bill in the House. “It isn’t really a question of how we compare to other states; it’s a question of whether people who are working full time should live in poverty.”
