It is fundamental to our democratic promise that every worker is able to earn fair wages and benefits, have freedom from discrimination, and work in a safe and healthy environment. More than a dozen Attorneys General have brought several challenges in multiple courts across the country attacking the minimum wage for federal contractors and subcontractors. These AGs are attacking a policy that would push more than 327,000 workers above the poverty threshold and improve our economy. Janitors, call center workers, security guards, and guides on federal lands are all federal contractors – and they are disproportionately women, Black and Latinx workers. 

At Democracy Forward, we are honored to help ensure workers in communities all across our country have access to the legal and regulatory tools to defend against these anti-democratic attacks, and to build towards a more just future. We’ve worked with a broad coalition to defend the legality of President Biden’s federal contractor minimum wage increase. 

On behalf of organizations including the National Employment Law Project, the Communications Workers of America, the Service Employees International Union, the National Women’s Law Center, the Economic Policy Institute, and the Grand Canyon Institute, Democracy Forward has defended the legality of the president’s wage increase in court against attacks from far-right attorneys general. 

Our latest brief filed on August 28 urges the Ninth Circuit to uphold the increase, underscoring that not only is the rule legal, ​​it will reduce income inequality and racial and gender wage gaps.

Read more about our work defending the federal contractor minimum wage.