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Meeting between Wilkes students and Tanzania native was a long time coming

<p>DALLAS &#8212; Raise the Wage in Pennsylvania held a protest outside of Sen. Lisa Baker&#8217;s office on the Dallas Memorial Highway Wednesday.</p><p>Nearly 20 protesters from Raise the Wage in Pennsylvania and the Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Wyoming Valley held signs that read, &#8220;Honk to support minimum wage raise&#8221; and &#8220;Raise PA&#8217;s Wage.&#8221;</p><p>Sen. Baker (R-Lehman Township), chairwoman of the Labor and Industry Committee, had her office targeted due to a stalled bill in the committee that could raise the state&#8217;s minimum wage from $ 7.25 to $10.10 per hour with a cost of living escalator, said John Dodds, coordinator of Raise the Wage in Pennsylvania.</p><p>The bill has sat in Baker&#8217;s committee since January.</p><p>&#8220;Everybody knows minimum wage needs to go up,&#8221; Dodds said. &#8220;No one knows why it is not.&#8221;</p><p>Even if Baker passed the bill through the committee, it still faces the Senate where it could stall again, Dodds said.</p><p>If the minimum wage increase passed all hurdles, it could result in 1.2 million state residents receiving family-sustaining wage increases, 47,000 residents in Baker&#8217;s districts, he said.</p><p>&#8220;These are people (workers benefiting from a minimum wage increase) we rely on daily,&#8221; Dodds said. &#8220;Child care providers, restaurant workers and many others.&#8221;</p><p>An increase in a family-sustaining wage would also create more spending at local shops and businesses, improving the county&#8217;s economy, he said.</p><p>Wilkes-Barre resident Emily Shiffer proudly held a sign that read &#8220;Raise the minimum wage.&#8221;</p><p>The single mother recently lost a seasonal job that paid $12 per hour and took the first job she was offered, a $7.25 per hour part-time job.</p><p>&#8220;Some money is better than no money,&#8221; she said.</p><p>The dramatic cut in her income has prohibited Shiffer from providing her 11-year-old daughter with singing lessons. At times, she struggles to cover her portion of the rent for an apartment she shares with her sister and brother-in-law.</p><p>If the state&#8217;s minimum wage was raised, Shiffer said she could resume saving for a car and continue her daughter&#8217;s lessons.</p><p>&#8220;I could show her all the numbers, but all she understands is I can&#8217;t afford it,&#8221; she said.</p><style>
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<div class="neCaption">Helene Elko holds a sign to raise awareness of the need to raise the state&#8217;s minimum wage during a protest Wednesday near Sen. Lisa Baker&#8217;s Dallas office. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/web1_TTL100815BakerVigil1.jpg</photo0><caption0>Helene Elko holds a sign to raise awareness of the need to raise the state&#8217;s minimum wage during a protest Wednesday near Sen. Lisa Baker&#8217;s Dallas office. </caption0><photoCredit0>Aimee Dilger | Times Leader </photoCredit0></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/web1_TTL100815BakerVigil2.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">John Dodds of Raise the Wage PA and Mark Terwilliger raise picket signs to bring attention to the need to raise the minimum wage from $7.25 to $10.10 per hour Wednesday at the intersection of the Dallas Memorial Highway and Route 309 in Dallas. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo1>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/web1_TTL100815BakerVigil2.jpg</photo1><caption1>John Dodds of Raise the Wage PA and Mark Terwilliger raise picket signs to bring attention to the need to raise the minimum wage from $7.25 to $10.10 per hour Wednesday at the intersection of the Dallas Memorial Highway and Route 309 in Dallas. </caption1><photoCredit1>Aimee Dilger | Times Leader </photoCredit1></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p>By Eileen Godin</p><p>egodin@www.timesleader.com</p></bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta><p>Reach Eileen Godin at 570-991-6387 or on Twitter @TLNews.</p></shirttailMeta></div>

Raise the Wage protest held in Dallas Wednesday