Jesse Griggs testified to the Tacoma City Council about the need for Tacoma to get a raise to $15.
“I work at a fast food restaurant for minimum wage and I have to support my family. I live with just my brothers and me, my parents passed away a while back. And with minimum wage as it is, it is hard to be able to pay rent, buy food, and do the electricity and keep it on and even try to go to school.
With $15 an hour it would be a great help, it would be so much more compared to $9.47 an hour. That extra five dollars does an extra gallon of milk an hour, ya know? It just does so much more because, because I can’t even buy food some of the time at $9.47 an hour.
It’s just not fair to have to work 40 hours a week and not even be able to buy shoes when I need to. It’s hard to, it’s hard to have to get up every morning just for nothing in the end when I know the city can afford $15 an hour and help me. I’d be able to save up and save up to get a car and actually go to school for a change.
I would love to be able to change my life, but I can’t do it at this wage. Ya know, I’m really hoping for the $15 an hour to change my life. ”