$15 Minimum Wage Advocate Want To Pay You $12

David Coulombe participates in a march and rally for $15 minimum wage in Boston, Massachusetts April 14, 2015. REUTERS/Brian Snyder

An advocacy group out of Modesto, Calif. pushing for a $15 anhour minimum wage posted a job ad Thursday offering to pay $12 anhour. Below what it is demanding others pay their workers.

The Craigslist post was for a job opening at the local Fight for$15 campaign. On the national level, the organization hasspearheaded the push to raise the minimum wage to $15 an hour. Thepost was signed by Steven Applebaum who lists his affiliation withthe Modesto Fight for $15 campaign.

“Do you make minimum wage?” the posting asked. “Can you afford your bills andexpenses? Do you hope and pray that you won’t ever face amedical or car bill because you don’t have the savings tocover it?”

The compensation is listed in the corner of the post. It notedthe pay comes from a union strike fund but doesn’t go intofurther detail. The movement consist of a national office and manylocal affiliates and is heavily endorsed and controlled by laborunions. The Service Employees International Union (SEIU) is themain union behind the campaign.

“If you want to talk more about how we can improve yourhours AND wages so that you can better afford living in Modesto,please send an E-mail,” the post continued. “Ourorganization has the resources to bring change to the CentralValley.”

On the national level, Fight for $15 has utilized rallies andmedia marketing campaigns. The goal is to get the $15 minimum wagepassed on both the local and national level. The national officedid not respond to confirm Applebaum’s affiliation.

Currently the federal minimum wage is $7.25 an hour but manystates, cities and counties have gone above it. Some cities haveadopted a $15 minimum wage and others are also considering it. Seattle led theway in passing such an increase back in June 2014. At the moment nostate has increased its minimum wage that much. New York and Florida have beenthinking about it.

Supporters of the $15minimum wage often claim it will helpthe poor and stimulate economic activity. They argue such an amountis the basic standard by which someone can livecomfortably. Opponents, however, say such an increase will actually hurt the poor bylimiting job opportunities.

Fight for $15 is not the first group caught offering less thanwhat it claim people need. Cody McLaughlin replied in June to a jobposting on Facebook for Working America. The group is an affiliated with the AFL-CIO. It was hiring field recruiters as part of itscampaign to get a $15 minimum wage. When heasked if it paid $15 the group said thegroup could offer him  $12.25per hour.

Democratic presidential hopeful and self-described socialistBernie Sanders has been one of the more vocal lawmakers in supportof the living wage. He has even introduced a bill to raise thefederal minimum wage to $15 per hour. Thisdespite the fact he only pays his own interns $12 per hour.

Follow Connor on Twitter