Last year, voters in the city of Albuquerque voted overwhelmingly – 66 percent – to raise the minimum wage by a dollar from $7.50 to $8.50.
This year, a majority of the New Mexico House and Senate voted to expand that policy to the entire state, a much needed boost to an economy with high poverty and the highest percentage of low-income families in the country.
Then, on Good Friday, while many New Mexicans were making plans for the long weekend or were otherwise occupied, Gov. Susana Martinez vetoed the minimum wage increase, effectively blocking a raise for over 84,000 New Mexico workers. She then scrubbed all mention of the veto of her website, and has hardly brought it up since.
Unfortunately for Gov. Martinez, New Mexico workers aren’t taking no for a final answer.
Bernalillo County, where Albuquerque is located, is by far the most populous county in the state (the second biggest, Dona Ana County, has a third of Bernalillo’s population). While Gov. Martinez was busy blocking our raise and hiding the evidence, New Mexico workers were already lobbying the County Commissioners to expand the Albuquerque policy to the rest of the county.
Tomorrow, the five commissioners will vote on the minimum wage increase. A victory here won’t only show that New Mexico workers want fair wages, it will also show that Gov. Martinez alone can’t stop the march of progress in the Land of Enchantment.
Send a message now: Tell the Bernalillo County Commisioners to raise the minimum wage.
Want to do more? Call the commissioners themselves using the numbers listed above.