Group that wants $12 minimum wage posted jobs paying $10 per hour

Maine People’s Alliance has been fighting to raise Maine’s minimum wage from $7.50 per hour to $12 per hour. But a job listing they posted offered less than $12.

The job listing for a part-time phone canvasser and organizer positions originally said people would work 21.25 hours per week for $429 biweekly, according to the Washington Free Beacon. That works out to $10.09 per hour, obviously less than the $12 minimum wage the group has said it wants instituted in Maine by 2020.

“Low pay is not OK. Maine families work hard and should be able to earn a fair wage. It’s not right that a single mother of two can work full time and still not make ends meet for her family,” Maine People’s Alliance states on their website. “Raising the minimum wage is good for our communities, and good for small businesses. The Mainers who would benefit the most from raising the minimum wage are also the people who are more likely to spend that extra money in their communities, improving our local economies.”

The job posting was edited after the Washington Free Beacon’s report. It now offers $510 biweekly, which is exactly $12 per hour.

Mike Tipping, communications director for the people’s alliance, told the Portland Press Herald that the original listing was a product of “bad math” and an “honest mistake.”

“Of course we pay our canvassers above $12 an hour, and the reason our opposition is seizing on this lie is because they are desperate,” Tipping told the Press Herald. “Maine people know the minimum wage is not enough to live on, and for thousands of seniors who can’t retire and single parents who are struggling to raise kids on poverty wages, we’re going to get this passed.”

This story was originally published July 8, 2016 at 2:18 PM with the headline "Group that wants $12 minimum wage posted jobs paying $10 per hour."