{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://sanders.senate.gov/newsroom/news/?id=8AE03A54-3BD8-4078-A488-841D692727F2", "The Week in Review", "2013-08-30", "2013", "2013-08", "Independent", "House", "VT", "Bernard Sanders", "S000033", "sanders.senate.gov", null, null, "legacy", "The Week in Review\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\tFriday, August 30, 2013\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\tIn advance of Labor Day weekend, there were nationwide protests on Thursday by low-wage workers at fast-food restaurants in more than 50 cities. Jobs and economic justice were common themes at Wednesday\u2019s observance of the 50thanniversary of the March on Washington. A report on Monday said U.S. workers' pay isn't even keeping up with inflation.\u00a0What do you think\u00a0\u00a0about the minimum wage, striking fast-food workers and the role of organized labor in America?\r\nFast-Food Strikes\u00a0Many of the workers at fast-food chains are paid only the federal minimum wage of $7.25 an hour, which has not changed since 2009. Sanders is a cosponsor of legislation to raise the minimum wage to $10.10 an hour, about what it would be if the minimum wage had kept up with inflation over the past 50 years. After one-day strikes were staged earlier this summer, Sanders praised the workers \u201cwho are standing up for justice, who are putting a spotlight on one of the major economic crises facing this country.\u201d While fast-food chains pay what Sanders called \u201cstarvation wages,\u201d he noted that the top executives for the same firms are paid millions of dollars a year.\r\nWatch Sanders' speech \u00bb\r\nRead more about the minimum wage \u00bb\r\nMarch on Washington\u00a0\u201cThere has been some real progress in breaking down barriers of discrimination and segregation, including the election and re-election of an African-American president,\u201d Sanders said of Wednesday\u2019s 50th\u00a0anniversary of the march. \u201cOn the other hand, in terms of unemployment, low wages and more wealth disparity, we are worse off than we were in 1963.\u201d\r\nWatch Sanders\u2019 reflect on the March on Washington\r\nStagnant Wages\u00a0Paychecks for U.S. workers are not keeping up with inflation, according to a report on Monday. The average hourly pay was $8.77 last month, down from $8.85 four years ago, according to inflation-adjusted data from the U.S. Department of Labor. That comparison is for what the Labor Department said was the average pay for workers who aren\u2019t on a government payroll and aren\u2019t supervisors.\r\nRead more in The Wall Street Journal\r\nWhat Do You Think?\u00a0Should the minimum wage be raised? Do you support striking fast-food workers? Should states let unions represent public employees? Should workers have a right to join unions?\r\nTake the poll", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://sanders.senate.gov/newsroom/news/?id=8AE03A54-3BD8-4078-A488-841D692727F2"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 0.881897984072566, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}