Since 2005 the price of gasoline has stayed above $3 a gallon on average. If the price of gas is going to continue rising, then the minimum wage countrywide must be increased as well.
With workers receiving $7.25/hr (and sometimes even less than that for commission & tip jobs) a large amount of money earned is going to pay for gasoline.
We propose that the price of gasoline should never exceed either one-third or one-fourth the minimum wage of any given area. If gasoline is going to be 3 or 4 dollars than minimum wage should be 9 to 16 dollars an hour.
We can't expect to reduce poverty in our country if roughly 10-15% of a minimum wage workers paycheck is going simply to gasoline every two weeks.