Minimum Wage Listening Sessions

The City of Minneapolis is hosting several listening sessions in coming weeks to gather feedback on a potential minimum wage policy for employers in the City of Minneapolis.

The City Council has directed City staff to present minimum wage policy recommendations mid-year after doing additional research and community engagement on the topic. The listening sessions will be an opportunity for community stakeholders to share viewpoints on how a change in the minimum wage would impact them.

Details will be posted at the City’s minimum wage webpage so check there to verify dates and times as additional listening sessions and details are confirmed. Upcoming meetings include:

• Tuesday, Feb. 7: Native American community, 5:30-7 p.m. All My Relations Gallery (Powwow Grounds), 1414 E. Franklin Ave.
• Tuesday, Feb. 14: Minneapolis Downtown Council and Northeast Minneapolis Chamber of Commerce, 4-5:30 p.m. DID conference rooms (TBD)
• Wednesday, Feb. 15: African American community, 3-5 p.m. NEON, 1007 W. Broadway Ave.
• Tuesday, Feb. 21: general public, 6-7:30 p.m. Sabathani Community Center, 310 E. 38th St.
• Thursday, Feb. 23: general public, 6-7:30 p.m. Urban League, main gathering room, 2100 Plymouth Ave.

All meetings are open to the public, though each will have a specific audience focus. Meeting organizers will use a variety of mechanisms to engage community participants and will have interpreters available. Questions and feedback on this issue can also be sent to MinWage@minneapolismn.gov.

The community engagement plan follows a presentation to the City Council’s Committee of the Whole in October 2016 by a research team presenting highlights of a study analyzing the relative impact of a local minimum wage increase in the City of Minneapolis and regionally in Hennepin County and Ramsey County. The study, led by the University of Minnesota’s Roy Wilkins Center for Human Relations and Justice, examined the impact of increasing the wage to $12 and $15 per hour phased in over five years. 

People of color would disproportionally benefit from a wage increase

• Of Latino workers, 39 percent would benefit from an increase to $12/hour and 54 percent would benefit from an increase to $15/hour.
• Of black workers, 27 percent would benefit from an increase to $12/hour and 41 percent would benefit from an increase to $15/hour.
• Of white workers, 10 percent would benefit from an increase to $12/hour and 17 percent would benefit from an increase to $15/hour.