Kamala Harris labels current federal minimum wage as 'poverty' pay

By Andrea Shalal and Kanishka Singh

ROYAL OAK, Michigan (Reuters) -Vice President and Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris said on Monday the U.S. must raise its federal minimum wage, and she labeled the current mininum wage of $7.25 an hour as "poverty wages."

WHY IT'S IMPORTANT

Harris tried to draw a contrast with Republican presidential candidate and former President Donald Trump on this issue. Trump and Harris face each other in what polls show to be a tight race for the Nov. 5 U.S. elections.

On Sunday, Trump conducted a campaign stop in a closed McDonald's restaurant in suburban Philadelphia, where he did not answer directly when asked if he would support an increase in the minimum wage that would benefit fast-food workers.

KEY QUOTES

"The current federal minimum wage is $7.25 an hour, which means that the person who is working a full day and full weeks will make $15,000 a year, which is essentially poverty wages," Harris told reporters during a campaign stop in Royal Oak, Michigan.

"I absolutely believe that we must raise minimum wage," she added. Harris did not mention the exact amount to which she wanted the minimum wage raised in her remarks on Monday.

CONTEXT

Both Trump and Harris have in recent weeks made economic pledges to woo voters. Harris has said she will aim to pass a middle class tax cut, while Trump has advocated cutting taxes on overtime pay. Both candidates have supported eliminating taxes on tips.

(Reporting by Andrea Shalal in Royal Oak, Michigan, and Kanishka Singh in Washington; editing by Jonathan Oatis and David Gregorio)

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