Martin Heinrich: “I can still remember my first job as though it was yesterday. I worked as a busboy at a local family restaurant during…”

“I can still remember my first job as though it was yesterday. I worked as a busboy at a local family restaurant during our small-town fair. While that job only lasted a few days, I still remember how incredibly proud I was to have earned a few dollars myself. The next year that same family hired me to bus tables and wash dishes year-round at their family restaurant. I soon went from busing tables to bagging groceries and then stocking shelves at the local grocery store. I grew up on a small farming and ranching operation. So whether it was drying dishes after dinner or helping my dad with the cattle, hard work was simply a requirement for every single member of my family. In addition to tending cattle, my dad worked as a utility lineman. And my mother worked in a factory inspecting wheels on the assembly line. Like a lot of Americans, I learned the dignity of work long before I ever held a job. I learned at home. Everyone deserves a fair shot at success in this country. That is at the heart of why raising the minimum wage truly matters. Minimum wage workers are not just teenagers. They are single parents working two jobs to make ends meet. They are women working a minimum- wage job at a movie theater for 8 years waiting for a raise. They are students working toward a degree that they hope will make all the difference in their lives. They are mothers and fathers working 40 hours a week--sometimes many more--to support their families.…”