Ocasio-Cortez calls for lawmakers to pay staffers a living wage

Rep.-elect Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) on Monday called on lawmakers in Congress to increase pay for members of their staff, saying that staffers currently don’t make a living wage. 

Ocasio-Cortez wrote in a tweet that she recently went to a Washington, D.C., bar and met several bartenders, managers and servers who also work in Senate or House offices.

{mosads}”This is a disgrace. Congress of ALL places should raise [Members’ Representational Allowances] so we can pay staff an actual DC living wage,” Ocasio-Cortez, a rising star on the left.

The democratic socialist called it “unjust” for members of Congress to be paid well while also relying on underpaid workers.

“It is unjust for Congress to budget a living wage for ourselves, yet rely on unpaid interns & underpaid overworked staff just bc Republicans want to make a statement about ‘fiscal responsibility.’ If that’s the case, they can cut down on staff to pay them well. Or raise the MRA,” she wrote. 

This week I went to dive spot in DC for some late night food. I chatted up the staff.

SEVERAL bartenders, managers, & servers *currently worked in Senate + House offices.*

This is a disgrace. Congress of ALL places should raise MRAs so we can pay staff an actual DC living wage.

— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@Ocasio2018) December 3, 2018

It is unjust for Congress to budget a living wage for ourselves, yet rely on unpaid interns & underpaid overworked staff just bc Republicans want to make a statement about “fiscal responsibility.”

If that’s the case, they can cut down on staff to pay them well. Or raise the MRA.

— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@Ocasio2018) December 3, 2018