- Campaign to Raise the Minimum Wage & Prevent Wage Theft: MRNJ played a leading role in the campaign to raise the minimum wage to $15 in New Jersey and create meaningful enforcement of the minimum wage to stop unscrupulous employers from stealing workers’ wages. In January 2019, we won passage of legislation to increase the minimum wage to $15/hour. Teen workers – initially excluded from the minimum wage hike – fought back, under the leadership of Make the Road NJ’s youth committee — and were included at full parity. In June 2019, anti-wage theft legislation passed after years of organizing. Both bills were signed into law at our office, where hundreds of our members joined low wage workers from across the state to celebrate.
- Winning – and Enforcing – Earned Sick Leave for Private Sector Workers in Elizabeth: in November 2015, MRNJ worked with a coalition to pass a new policy via ballot initiative that guarantees up to five paid sick days for all private-sector workers in Elizabeth.
