Minimum wage workers get a raise to ring in 2013

COLUMBUS, Ohio (WDTN) - If you are a minimum wage worker, a raise is less than a week away.

On January 1, 2013, workers covered under Ohio's minimum wage law will see a 15 cent increase in their hourly wage taking them to $7.85 an hour.  

By law, Ohio's minimum wage rate to the Consumer Price Index (CPI). The CPI increased over 1.7 percent from Sept. 1, 2011 to Sept. 30, 2012.

"These rate increases keep the minimum wage in pace with inflation," notes Tim Burga, President of the Ohio AFL-CIO. "These modest increases can also generate revenue for our local economies- something we are in desperate need of here in Ohio."

Originally passed as part of the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938, the purpose of the minimum wage was to prevent market forces from driving down the wages of the lowest earners in the labor force.