INDIANAPOLIS -- Labor Day is a popular day of the year to have workplace-related rallies, like minimum wage increases.
But 20 years ago this week, people in Indianapolis weren't rallying for higher wages, but celebrating the fact that they just received an increase.
On Sept. 1, 1997, the federal minimum wage increased from $4.75 to $5.15 per hour.
It was the second minimum wage increase in a one-year period. The first increase raised it from $4.25 to $4.75 per hour in October 1996.
"In order for people to survive, you have to have a decent working wage," Rep. Julia Carson (D-Ind.) said in 1997. "Even the low-skilled workers require and deserve a living wage to enable them to stay afloat and stay in the economic mainstream."
For more on the minimum wage bump in 1997, click on the video player above.
"Nobody could live on $10,000 per year," said Chuck Deppert of the AFL-CIO. "That's about what this minimum wage does. But I think it signals a willingness for the public to support helping people in the bottom end of the economic scale."
Below are the increases to minimum wage for covered, nonexempt employees since 1978.
| Jan. 1, 1978 | $2.65 |
| Jan. 1, 1979 | $2.90 |
| Jan. 1, 1980 | $3.10 |
| Jan. 1, 1981 | $3.35 |
| Apr. 1, 1990 | $3.80 |
| Apr. 1, 1991 | $4.25 |
| Oct. 1, 1996 | $4.75 |
| Sept. 1, 1997 | $5.15 |
| July 24, 2007 | $5.85 |
| July 24, 2008 | $6.55 |
| July 24, 2009 | $7.25 |
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