Heads up UFCW Local 400 members working in Washington, DC and Montgomery County, MD – the minimum wage in both jurisdictions will increase on July 1, 2024.
In the District of Columbia, the minimum wage for all employers will be $17.50/hour, a 50-cent increase from the current $17.00/hour.
In Montgomery County, minimum wage increases are divided by employer size:
- For workers at large employers (with 51 or more employees), the minimum wage will be $17.15/hour, a 45-cent increase from the current $16.70/hour.
- Workers at mid-sized employers (with 11-50 employees) will have a minimum wage of $15.50/hour, a 50-cent rise from the current $15.00/hour.
The new rates are based on the change in the consumer price index for all urban wage earners and clerical workers in the Washington, DC metropolitan area because both minimum wage laws provide for automatic annual increases based on the inflation rate.
Please note that the minimum wage for workers at small employers (with 10 or fewer employees) in Montgomery County will remain at $15.00/hour, the Maryland statewide rate that took effect on January 1, 2024. Workers everywhere else in Maryland are also subject to the statewide minimum wage of $15.00/hour.
“These increases are due to Local 400 members’ hard and successful work pressuring the District of Columbia and Montgomery County Councils to pass legislation bringing the minimum wage closer to an actual living wage — and automatically indexing it to inflation,” said Local 400 President Mark Federici. “The result is stronger contracts and higher living standards for all of our members in these jurisdictions, including those earning above the minimum wage.
“Our task now is to bring Virginia and West Virginia up to the same standards,” Federici said. “While we have won increases in both states, they lag behind the District of Columbia and Montgomery County. We’re going to keep fighting for higher minimum wages in these states and elsewhere because legislative and political advocacy can have the same impact as collective bargaining in securing real raises that overcome inflation.”