Muscogee Creek Nation raising minimum wage to $20 an hour

OKMULGEE, Okla. — The Muscogee Creek Nation is raising its minimum wage to $20 an hour for all tribal employees, with increases rolling out in phases over the next few years.

Tribal employees currently earn a minimum of $15 an hour — already more than double Oklahoma's state minimum wage of $7.25. Starting next month, that rate will begin climbing even higher.

The increases will happen in three phases: $16.67 in October, $18 next year, and $20 an hour by October 2028.

Muscogee Nation Press Secretary Jason Salsman said the gradual approach is necessary because the funding comes from the nation's permanent fund, which grows each year. The nation can use a percentage of the fund's returns to cover the wage increases.

Salsman said the goal is to make the Muscogee Nation one of the best places to work in America by taking care of employees financially.

"We don't really care what the state's doing, any states around us, what the nation is doing, anything like that. For us, we're sovereign, we can handle our own, and we see a need there. We see an opportunity, we see an ability to meet a need and we're going to jump on that. And, and so for us, this isn't about making a story. This isn't about having something look good in the paper. This is taking care of our employees." Salsman said.

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This story was initially reported by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.