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For Immediate Release
June, 08 2016, 11:00am EDT
Contact:
Delvone Michael – (757) 575-4010 or dmichael@workingfamilies.org
DC Council Votes to Approve $15 Minimum Wage Proposal
Mayor and Councilmembers credit DC for $15 campaign with spurring their action. $15 minimum wage will raise wages for 127,000 workers in DC according to Mayor Bowser
WASHINGTON
Delvone Michael, Executive Director of DC Working Families and co-chair of DC for $15, issued the following statement today in response to the DC Council's vote to approve the Mayor's Fair Shot Minimum Wage bill.
"It wasn't long ago that raising DC's minimum wage to $15 seemed like a pipe dream. But when the people speak up, leaders listen. Because of dedicated grassroots organizing and a bold campaign willing to take the issue directly to the people, we're seeing results.
Today, the District of Columbia is on a path to raise wages for 127,000 workers, and also double the base minimum wage for tipped workers.
This represents a huge step forward, and we're thrilled to see it happen. But it's not enough. Washington, DC is a city awash in wealth, but still one where too many working people are struggling to keep their heads above water and care for their families.
Today's action proves that change is possible. We remain committed to using every tool available to build power for working people and ensure that DC a city that works for all working families.
A $15 minimum wage is a real win for workers and we remain dedicated to help making sure tipped workers earn the full minimum wage.
Raising wages for families struggling to make ends meet is critical to making sure that DC and our economy works for us, not just the rich and powerful. We can't stop there which is why we must fight for a broad agenda that advances the interests of families and that means fighting for issue such as paid family leave and fair scheduling."
LATEST NEWS
Paraguayan Senator Refuses to Apologize as Government Condemns Racist Attack on France's Mbappé
"I will not apologize," said 62-year-old Sen. Celeste Amarilla. "I come from a generation when gays were beaten up and calling someone a little Black shit was common."
Jul 07, 2026
A Paraguayan senator on Tuesday partially retracted her racist rant against French soccer superstar Kylian Mbappé but refused to apologize as French prosecutors weigh hate crime charges and officials in both countries condemned her remarks.
Prosecutors in Paris are considering charges of incitement to hatred or violence, or aggravated public insult, against right-wing Paraguayan opposition Sen. Celeste Amarilla, after the French Football Federation filed a complaint calling the "racist remarks" of the lawmaker "totally abject and unacceptable."
France eliminated Paraguay from the FIFA World Cup on Saturday, beating the South American side 1-0 in the Round of 16 match in Philadelphia, with Mbappé scoring a game-winning penalty kick in the 70th minute.
Following the unusually physical match—some observers accused Paraguay of being sore losers and playing dirty—Mbappé refused to shake Paraguayan goalkeeper Orlando Gill's hand.
An incensed Amarilla then took to X to call Mbappé a "colonized Cameroonian, pretending hard to be French, resentful, newly rich, arrogant, and ugly."
In a second post, the senator said Mbappé "didn't even learn to write; instead of mother's milk, he suckled on coconuts, and the most educated things he heard were the chimpanzees."
Mbappé was born in Paris and grew up just outside the French capital in Bondy.
Amarilla also cheered racist posts by other X users and asked "permission" to use one comment asking, "What kind of 'dark' thing can you ask someone who ran from lions so as not to be eaten?"
While many Paraguayans rushed to Amarilla's defense in the name of their national, sporting, and even racial honor, the country's Foreign Ministry released a statement saying the nation's government "deplores and rejects" her remarks, which it said are "contrary to the values and principles that inspire peaceful coexistence and respect for the human dignity that our country promotes."
Paraguayan Vice President Pedro Alliana also weighed in, asserting Monday that "football is an expression of fraternity" that "should unite people," and "there is no room for any type of discrimination" in the sport.
Mbappé responded directly to Amarilla on social media, saying, "You are a despicable woman and unworthy of your position."
"You do not represent Paraguay, that country which has sweated passion and honor throughout the competition," the French captain and Real Madrid superstar wrote. "Through your recklessness and your brazen racism, the entire world has already forgotten the journey and the historic effort that your players accomplished during this World Cup, making way for an incompetent woman who gives the worst possible image of her country."
French President Emmanuel Macron posted on social media: "Another goal for Kylian Mbappé. Against racism this time. All my support. When words defile, our values respond—dignity, respect, fraternity."
Amarilla subsequently posted a screed attacking what she called Mbappé's "arrogance" and "contempt."
"My posts were written in the heat of the moment," she claimed. "That mixed-race blood—a beautiful blend of Indigenous and Spanish blood flowing through my veins—was boiling while you mocked those great Paraguayan players who fought as equals until the very end of the match, and that's why I wrote those messages."
During Amarilla's youth, Paraguay committed genocide against the Aché, Ayoreo, Guaraní, and other Indigenous peoples under the US-backed dictatorship of Gen. Alfredo Stroessner.
"Soon afterward, however, I regretted responding with the same insults that I myself receive," Amarilla continued in a conciliatory twist. "I, too am looked down upon for being brown-skinned and Latina; they call us 'sudacas.' I regretted it and deleted the post. I realized I was repeating patterns that I hate. I understand that it may have hurt you, because it is humiliating."
"Now I demand that you also retract your words and apologize to me," she added.
Speaking at a Tuesday morning press conference, Amarilla again defended her actions, which she said were rooted in her Generation X upbringing, declaring, "I will not apologize."
🗣️ Celeste Amarilla: “I come from a generation where calling someone a “little Black sh*t” was common.
Watch out for Paraguayans. We put Dinho behind bars for corruption.
Don't underestimate me, I can file charges against you.”
She’s disgusting, bro. 🤮 pic.twitter.com/yAw55G0hSP
— 10 (@Kylian) July 7, 2026
"I'm nearly 62 years old and grew up in a society where gays were beaten and where calling someone a little Black shit was the most common thing," the senator said. "I come from that generation, so now I'm trying to build a different Celeste Amarilla, that's capable of co-existing with others."
"Have patience," she added. "I'm trying."
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Bernie Sanders Advises Graham Platner to 'Step Aside'
The senator said he spoke with the Democratic candidate "about the best path forward for Maine" and recommended that he leave the race.
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US Sen. Bernie Sanders, among the earliest and most prominent congressional backers of Graham Platner's campaign to unseat Republican Sen. Susan Collins, has joined growing calls for the Maine Democrat to exit the race following sexual assault allegations.
"I have spoken with Graham Platner about the best path forward for Maine," Sanders (I-Vt.) said in a Tuesday statement. "In light of these very serious allegations, I have recommended that he step aside."
Jenny Racicot initially told The New York Times that Platner's behavior was "reckless" and "unsettling" during their on-and-off relationship in 2019-21, and that she cut off contact after he came to her Maine home drunk despite being told not to around five years ago. Politico reported Monday afternoon that the 41-year-old said he sexually assaulted her that night. Later Monday, Racicot appeared on CNN and said he "absolutely" raped her.
Platner, in a Monday video, denied "any accusation of nonconsensual behavior," but also said that his campaign was "taking the time to reflect on the best path forward" given "the political reality" resulting from the reporting—which followed other controversies, including offensive Reddit posts, a tattoo resembling a Nazi symbol, and his past relationships, including allegations of physical aggression that he also denied.
After months of campaigning on progressive policies, the oyster farmer and combat veteran won last month's primary by over 50 points, beating Gov. Janet Mills, who remained on the ballot despite suspending her campaign in April. After Racicot's assault allegations broke, numerous groups and individuals—including other members of Congress who had endorsed Platner—called on him to immediately withdraw.
Racicot told CNN and Politico that she didn't publicly accuse Platner of rape earlier in part because she agrees with his politics—and some progressives who previously supported the candidate have warned the Democratic establishment that "this is not your opening," as Our Revolution executive director Joseph Geevarghese said in a Monday statement calling for his withdrawal.
If Platner withdraws by July 13, he can be replaced on the ballot, and the Maine Democratic Party would have until July 27 to come up with a name. Already, Democrat Troy Jackson, a former Maine Senate president who campaigned for governor this cycle with Platner and Sanders, has filed paperwork.
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95% of Americans Say Country Faces Cost-of-Living Crisis as Half Struggle to Afford Essentials
"Meanwhile, Trump wants to hike military spending to $1.5 trillion a year," said one observer.
Jul 07, 2026
Days after President Donald Trump made his latest dismissive remark about the cost of living and Americans' struggles to afford housing, new polling released Tuesday finds that nearly the entire voting public views the US as facing an affordability crisis and are increasingly pessimistic that the economy—and working people—will recover.
The Harris Poll, conducted on behalf of The Guardian newspaper, found that 57% of respondents believe the economy is still getting worse for Americans even after the US and Iran signed a peace deal last month to end the conflict started in February by the Trump administration and Israel—a war that sent oil prices soaring.
The average price of gas in the US is still $3.79 per gallon, despite the fact that Brent crude prices have fallen sharply.
Across party lines, about half of respondents said they are struggling to afford basic items like gas and groceries, and two-thirds of Americans, including nearly half of Republican voters, said they do not believe the Trump administration will improve the affordability crisis.
The poll was taken nearly a week after Trump, who ran on lowering costs for Americans, refused to sign affordable housing legislation, calling the bipartisan bill "a big yawn."
In May, as the administration was negotiating an end to the Iran War, Trump said that he did not “think about Americans’ financial situation,” even as the Middle East conflict he and Israel started hit family budgets hard.
A month earlier, he said the federal government "can’t take care of daycare" and healthcare programs for Americans, because it was focused on one thing and one thing only: "military protection."
According to the new survey, gas is at the top of the list of expenses that Americans are struggling to afford, with 52% saying they are having trouble keeping up with the cost. More than half of respondents also reported having trouble affording groceries, and 46% said they are struggling to make their loan payments and pay for utilities.
Trump ended the Biden administration's Saving on a Valuable Education (SAVE) program, terminating the income-based student loan repayment plan for millions of borrowers. A report by Democrats on the Joint Economic Committee in March also found that the average utility bill was up by $110, or 6.4%, over last year, following the Republican Party's elimination of tax credits for solar and wind power and as Trump pushed for the unregulated expansion of energy-sucking artificial intelligence data centers, despite warnings that they would drive up household utility bills.
The president's tariffs and his refusal to take on corporate consolidation in the meatpacking industry have also contributed to high grocery prices, recent analyses have found.
The Harris Poll found that 57% of Americans believe the economy is steadily getting worse, compared with 46% who said so in February. Just 16% said the economy is getting stronger, and only 27% of Republicans said the same. In February, 49% of Republican voters reported a positive outlook on the economy.
The survey also found that 54% of respondents said neither the Republican Party nor the Democratic Party has a solution to the growing affordability crisis.
However, the poll was taken on the heels of several electoral victories by progressive and democratic socialist candidates who have centered the needs of working families, demanded that billionaires pay their fair share in taxes, and called for Medicare for All and universal childcare—programs that would be similar to ones that are commonplace in other wealthy countries.
In New York City, Mayor Zohran Mamdani, a democratic socialist, has made strides toward a universal childcare program, a wealth tax, and a rent freeze for rent-stabilized housing units to address the economic inequality and cost-of-living crises.
On Monday, Trump claimed that "a social Democrat is a communist," in an apparent reference to democratic socialists like Mamdani and US House candidates Melat Kiros in Colorado's 1st District, Claire Valdez in New York's 7th District, and Darializa Avila Chevalier in New York's 13th District.
"If you look at the people that are running, it's crazy what they're doing," said Trump. "But we'll never let that happen to this country... There's no appetite for it."
But in The New York Times on Tuesday, Lindsay Owens of the progressive think tank Groundwork Collaborative suggested the recent elections prove there is, in fact, an "appetite" for candidates who recognize the affordability crisis, and prioritize solutions.
“The economic populist moment is here," she said.
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