MCCALL, Idaho -- There is a grassroots effort happening In McCall to raise the minimum wage by $3 an hour from $7.25 to $10.25 an hour.
A group of volunteers from Fair Wage Idaho gathered Thursday to talk with KTVB about their work to get signatures for a petition to put a measure on the November ballot.
Former state senator and current McCall resident Gail Bray said this movement is happening all over the country.
"Right now you cannot look at a newspaper, listen to the radio, or watch TV, and not see stories about minimum wages being increased," she said.
The group has been going door to door garnering support and so far they have gathered over 600 signatures.
"It's really a question of fairness," said Geoff Burns with Fair Wage Idaho. "McCall is a resort town, it's heavily a service industry town, which means low wage workers, and it's also an expensive town work in."
The McCall city clerk explains that because of state law, cities have the authority to try and pass initiatives. The group needed 196 signatures for it to be valid, but they have surpassed that number already.
Burns says they have been doing a lot of research and leg work to get the word out. And here's why...
"A good estimate for the number of workers in McCall earning less than $10 a hour is 700, and that is about a third of the workforce," said Burns.
Bray moved to McCall full time three years ago and says she started to see a trend.
"I do a lot of walking and biking around town, and I have made friends with a lot of young people walking back and forth to work, and they disappear," she said. "They are here for a while and they have to leave because they can't make a living wage."
If the measure is successful, McCall would be the first in Idaho to do this. Bray said two years ago an initiative to raise the state minimum wage failed with little support.
Still, the group knows not everyone is onboard with the idea.
When KTVB talked with McCall area businesses, we learned that some supported it, some didn't even know about it and some said they already paid their employees above minimum wage.
In response to the opposition, Burns said three city council members are supportive of the measure. He also noted that higher paid workers tend to spend their money locally, keeping a solid economy and it changes the retention rates.
"The studies have found that when you raise the minimum wage those jobs become more desirable," said Burns.
Fair Wage Idaho needs to turn in their signatures by the end of April to get verified. The city clerk said by the end of August they should know if the measure could go to a public vote in November.
