WASHINGTON -- Arkansas workers laboring at the nation's minimum wage level will get a raise in October, thanks to United Methodists in the state who helped lead the way in advocating for an increase.

Most states have not had an increase in the $5.15-an-hour minimum wage since 1997. In Arkansas, workers will start earning $6.25.

The United Methodist General Board of Church and Society hosted a luncheon May 15 at the United Methodist Building in Washington celebrating the minimum-wage victory in Arkansas. The Rev. Steve Copley, a leading figure in the "Give Arkansas a Rai$e" campaign and pastor of First United Methodist Church, North Little Rock, Ark., was the guest speaker.

"The religious community was key," Mr. Copley said. "When leaders from local churches, both lay and clergy, as well as bishops and other leaders from a wide spectrum of the state's faith community united behind the effort, it created a powerful voice for change."

A broad coalition of partner organizations, including the Arkansas Interfaith Council, denominational leaders, labor unions and community organizations, came together to form the heart of the campaign.

Hours were spent over several meetings, hammering out language for a ballot initiative to be presented at the polls. A similar approach proved successful last year in Florida, where citizens voted to raise their state's minimum wage by $1.00 an hour. "Members of our committee thought if they can do it in Florida, why not Arkansas?" Mr. Copley said.

The next step was to raise awareness and build support for the initiative. Mr. Copley said a huge break came when the Darraugh Foundation funded a statewide poll of citizens' views.

Poll results showed 87 percent of Arkansans expressed support for the minimum-wage increase, and 88 percent agreed with the statement, "It is wrong for people to work hard, full-time, and live in poverty."

A second important break in the Arkansas campaign came when the state business community called the "Give Arkansas a Rai$e" coalition leadership and indicated its support.

The committee began to work with state lawmakers on language they could support. The increase passed overwhelmingly, with only three lawmakers in the 135-member Arkansas Legislature opposing it.

The U.S. Congress continues to debate proposals to increase the national minimum wage but has not been able to agree on a bill. States have begun to take matters into their own hands. Arkansas joins 20 other states and the District of Columbia that have passed higher minimum-wage laws. In some states, such as Florida, the wage is indexed to inflation, so that each year the state's poorest workers see an automatic increase.

A person working full-time, 40 hours a week, every week of the year, at $5.15 an hour will make about $10,700 a year. That's significantly below the national poverty line of $13,020 for a family of one child and one adult.

The United Methodist Church calls on all employers to "pay their employees a wage that does not require them to depend upon government subsidies such as food stamps or welfare for their livelihood," according to Paragraph 163.IV.E of the denomination's Social Principles.

"We believe the current minimum wage is grossly inadequate," said John Hill, director of economic and environmental justice for the Board of Church and Society, the denomination's social advocacy agency. "A job should keep people out of poverty, not in it. This tears at our social fabric; it undermines our social contract; it is an affront to our understanding of the United States as a land of opportunity. People who work should be paid enough to live a life of dignity."

Mr. Copley credited several for helping with the campaign, including Arkansas Bishop Charles Crutchfield, retired Bishop Felton May, the Arkansas Conference United Methodist Women, Doni Martin and the Arkansas Conference Board of Church and Society, the Rev. Bob Edgar of the National Council of Churches USA and Paul Sherry of the Let Justice Roll campaign.

Clayton Childers is the director of annual conference relations for the Board of Church and Society. For more UMNS stories, see www.umc.org.

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