Eight million people in the United States are working at or below the hourly $5.15 federal minimum wage. Since 1997, Congress has refused to increase the pay of minimum wage workers—while giving itself nine pay raises in that time.

We're not waiting for Congress. AFL-CIO union members are urging lawmakers to increase their states’ minimum wage and mobilizing to get signatures for state ballot initiatives to take the case for raising the minimum wage directly to voters.