Mayor Cherelle Parker wants to raise PA minimum wage to $15, doubles down on city workers' in person return
PHILADELPHIA - Mayor Cherelle Parker called for Pennsylvania's minimum wage to be raised and said she would call all city workers back to the office, while speaking at a luncheon meeting of the Chamber of Commerce Wednesday.
Mayor Parker was called to the podium to the sounds of Philly R&B star Jill Scott. Acknowledging the music, she turned to the crowd of over 2,000 filling the Convention Center Hall and made a plea.
"I’m here to tell you that I need you. Cherelle Parker, mayor of the City of Philadelphia, needs you and you and you- -everybody else in this room. I need you." said Mayor Parker.
Parker spoke at the yearly mayoral luncheon held by the Chamber of Commerce of Greater Philadelphia. The Chamber leadership said it’s the largest they’ve ever had.
The mayor urged business owners to ante up for their workers saying she wants to "raise Pennsylvania’s unconscionably low minimum wage to 15 bucks an hour to grow our economic pie and increase our tax base."
Parker spoke of sweeping the trash out of neighborhoods, improving education, building 30-thousand new units of affordable housing and combating a sense of lawlessness plaguing the city.
The mayor praised Comcast and health insurance giant Independence Blue Cross for calling workers back to the office and said all city workers will also return.
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The lunchtime crowd received her with warmth. Tia Jackson-Truitt of the University of Pennsylvania said, "strengthening safety, education. All these are hot topics. She has a clear plan for that."
On the 58th day of her new administration, the mayor offered to "close the deal" for business leaders trying to land new clients but avoided any suggestion she’d come to them with her hand out.
When asked if she’d ask business to pay more taxes she said, "when we convene our business community through business roundtables, we want to find a way for us to have synergy."