Obama urges Congress to raise US minimum wage

(MENAFN- AFP) US President Barack Obama urged Congress to raise the federal minimum wage, challenging legislators to help reverse income disparity across the country."Say yes. Give America a raise. Give them a raise!" Obama told Congress in his State of the Union speech on Tuesday.Noting that the current national minimum of $7.25 an hour was effectively 20 percent lower than it was a quarter-century ago, he urged the legislature, which has resisted hiking the baseline over the past year, to pass a bill that would hike the national base rate, covering all workers, nearly 40 percent to $10.10."This will help families. It will give businesses customers with more money to spend," he said.As he pressed an agenda to boost incomes for lower and middle class Americans, Obama lauded five states which in the past year have increased their own floor wage rates, and praised companies that pay more than they have to."Profitable corporations like Costco see higher wages as the smart way to boost productivity and reduce turnover. We should too."Obama announced he would soon issue an executive order requiring government contractors to pay their workers at least $10.10 an hour, skirting the need for Congressional approval.