The Virginia Fair Wage Alliance is working to gather support to increase the minimum wage in Virginia. $5.15 is not enough! That’s the current minimum wage in Virginia.

We believe in the promise of work and we see that promise bring broken every day throughout the Commonwealth, when thousands of our neighbors labor with little chance to advance or even get by.

A full-time worker making $5.15 an hour earns $10,712 a year before Social Security, Medicare and other taxes.

Earning the $5.15 an hour minimum wage, workers cannot afford the basic necessities of life — housing, food, childcare, etc. They suffer, and their children suffer, when they are forced to work multiple jobs to try to make ends meet. The rest of us suffer from an enormous loss of human potential and from the costs that are shifted to local, state and private social service programs, when workers are unable to support themselves through their work.

Working full time at the current minimum wage, $5.15 an hour, means that a family of three has nearly 50 percent less than the poverty level, not enough to afford even a one-room apartment anywhere in Virginia. The minimum wage has not been increased in nearly a decade, during which time the consumer price index has climbed more than 27 percent. The minimum wage buys less today than it did in 1979.

Increasing Virginia’s minimum wage will raise the floor for thousands and thousands of low-income workers, while keeping a level playing field for all Virginia businesses. Twenty-nine other states have already increased their minimum wages; other states are considering it. It is time for Virginia to raise the minimum wage and thereby give workers a chance to work their way out of poverty.

Please join with the Virginia Fair Wage Alliance in upholding the promise of work through raising the minimum wage for hard-working Virginians.

There are lots of campaign materials that are available to you on this website.

To download a one-page (both sides) handout on the campaign to raise the minimum wage in Virginia, click here (one side) and click here (other side).

To download a PowerPoint presentation on the campaign to raise the minimum wage in Virginia, click here for one version and click here for a second version.

To download the graphics for the campaign to raise the minimum wage in Virginia: for a bumpersticker click here , sticker click here , or button click here . For a Spanish bumpersticker click here , Spanish sticker click here , or Spanish button click here .

We are looking for individuals and groups to pass around petitions so people who support a raise in the minimum wage in Virginia can sign them. To download a petition signature form, click here .

To download an insert for your congregation bulletin, please click here.

If you want to join with parishes/congregations or other groups in a legislative letter writing campaign to increase the minimum wage for Virginia's low--income working families, you can click here for the "Fair Wage" card developed by Social Action Linking Together (SALT).

SALT has also developed a "Legislative Advocacy in 3 minutes or less" sample letter (click here) designed for use with the "Fair Wage" card writing campaigns. It includes "how to make the letter your own." Click here for the "know your legislator" information page (back side). Feel free to modify for your local use.

If you are an organization and want to support the campaign to raise the minimum wage in Virginia, please click here to download the organizational endorsement form.

If you are a business and want to support the campaign to raise the minimum wage in Virginia, please click here to download the business endorsement form.

To make a donation to the campaign to raise the minimum wage in Virginia, please click here . (Make sure to designate your donation for this campaign.)

For more information on low-wage issues, you can go to: