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By Sharyn Jackson
Des Moines Register, April 5, 2014

Raising the minimum wage will give workers more money to spend at local businesses, boosting profitability and the economy, U.S. Secretary of Labor Thomas E. Perez said Saturday in Des Moines.

Perez visited Raygun, a T-shirt shop and screen printing company in Des Moines' East Village, along with Iowa Democrats U.S. Senator Tom Harkin, U.S. Rep. Bruce Braley, and state Sen. Jack Hatch, to tour the facility and campaign for raising the minimum wage. ...

[Mike] Draper said he pays his employees above the current $7.25 minimum wage: his nine full-time employees earn $13 an hour, plus a monthly stipend for healthcare, while part-time workers earn $9.50.

"There is a small-business person right here who gets it," Harkin said of Draper.

In the store, Perez learned how to print his own t-shirt, an image of an American flag in the shape of the United States, and "$10.10" where the stars would go. ...

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sjackson@dmreg.com

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