Local group split on pay hike plan

LYNN – Raise Up Massachusetts members support House Speaker Robert DeLeo’s plan to increase the minimum wage to $10.50 but they don’t support severing the link to the rising cost of living.”We’re glad to see that he’s for the increase,” said Rev. Brian Flynn, of the Lynn Catholic Collaborative and a member of the Essex County Community Organization (ECCO). “I think the biggest disappointment is that it’s not linked to inflation and for us that means the battle continues.”Housed in St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church, ECCO is a grassroots organization of 25 congregations and institutions that fight for social justice issues. The group joined with Raise Up Massachusetts to get a minimum wage and a sick time initiative on the November ballot.DeLeo unveiled a plan earlier this week that would raise minimum wage to $10.50 per hour over three years but would not tie it to inflation. He said during a speech to the Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce that the plan would be linked to changes aimed at offering relief for businesses from high unemployment insurance rates. DeLeo called it a careful balancing act.Flynn called it frustrating. If the increase isn’t tied to the rising cost of living then supporters could be back at square one in three to five years trying to get the minimum wage raised again, he explained.As part of Raise Up Massachusetts ECCO helped collect a total of 288,000 signatures from across the state, the first time a grassroots organization has managed to collect enough signatures to get two initiatives on the ballot. Locally, volunteers gathered 16,500 signatures from Lynn to Gloucester.The ballot questions would increase minimum wage from $8 per hour to $10.50 per hour and connect it so it would rise naturally with inflation. A second ballot question, if approved, would allow all employees access to earned sick time. It is the minimum wage change that has caught the most attention. Flynn, who serves both St. Mary’s parish and Sacred Heart, said he believes it’s touched a nerve locally because it is at its heart, a social justice issue and those are the kind of issues his parishioners and ECCO fight for.”It’s a very important bill for people in both parishes,” he added. “We gathered some people together for their thoughts on this bill and they were very much in favor ? the support was really more overwhelming than I even thought it would be.”Voters will get the chance to have their say on Election Day in November.