The Alternate Times

By Morgan Tiergarten

September 7, 2029

ALLEGHENY COUNTY, PA. — The U.S. minimum wage is set to rise to $20 per hour on Sept. 10, the largest increase in history and a key component of a massive anti-poverty law enacted earlier this year.

In May, the U.S. Congress passed the Strengthening Our Safety-net Act, with a goal of slashing poverty by up to 85%. In addition to increasing the minimum wage from $7.25, the SOS Act funded free public school lunches for all children, mandated paid family and sick leave, and implemented a universal basic income pilot program in 10 states with the highest rates of poverty.

At a press conference, U.S. Secretary of Labor JB Pritzker stood with 28 employees of an Allegheny County Walmart Supercenter who rely on food assistance despite their full-time jobs. He said that the increase in the minimum wage, combined with the SOS Act’s other provisions, would be life-changing.

“For years, we heard that raising taxes on the wealthy and making corporations pay their fair share wouldn’t work or would destroy jobs,” Pritzker said. “But it was a lie then, and it’s a lie now. This administration made them do right by their workers, and we’re a better country for it.”

The SOS Act also toughened the standards for supply chain integrity, after an investigation discovered that multiple large retailers relied on imports from the New Confederacy that were manufactured with child labor.