'We suck. We really do,' Labor secretary says about minimum wage

Published December 20, 2015

Labor Secretary Tom Perez isn't mincing words when it comes to describing the U.S. federal minimum wage.

“I mean, we suck ... We really do,” Perez said of the $7.25 minimum hourly wage, one of the lowest among developed nations.

Perez's remarks, delivered at a Bloomberg News event and reported by the publication, were delivered in response to Republican New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie's comment Monday at a Chamber of Commerce event that he was “tired of hearing about the minimum wage.”

“Chris Christie’s got his head in the sand if he’s getting tired about the minimum wage,” said Perez, who has recently conducted a tour across the U.S. meeting with minimum wage workers. The tour involved talking to minimum wage workers in New Jersey who, he said, need a legislated pay raise.