Maryland Governor Wes Moore has increased the minimum wage for all Baltimore/Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport (BWI) contract workers to $18 per hour. Many Maryland residents criticized the increase, however, as they saw it as something that would not affect most people in the state.
As reported by Fox News, Moore revealed the minimum wage increase to $18 per hour for direct Maryland Aviation Administration contract workers. These workers previously received the state’s official minimum wage of $15.
At the moment, indirect contract workers will not be affected by the change. Because of that, the governor also revealed plans to introduce emergency legislation at the beginning of the 2027 legislative session, which would affect these BWI airport workers as well.
Workers who are already making more than the minimum wage will likely not be affected by these recent changes.
Maryland Criticizes Governor Moore
On Reddit’s r/Maryland, residents became disappointed with Governor Moore after discovering how limited the change was, especially because it did not affect most minimum-wage workers in the state. Someone said: “Just raise it to $18 period, not just for some workers.”
Others also complained: “$18/hour in Maryland is still below a living wage in for most people. What a joke.” Another resident wrote: “$18/hr was an issue that should’ve been handle back in 2016 and adding on to your comment. $18/hr back then was still an unlivable wage. Now if you go back ten years that $18 an hr now with inflation is $25 an hr.”
A seemingly enraged Maryland resident also argued that this was not enough: “How is that an improvement? A mother with one child is still living below poverty on $18/hour.” Someone answered, however, that it was still progress, using a snarky tone to strike back: “We should revert it because bubbly thinks it’s a joke. Progress is meaningless unless it 100% meets everyone’s expectations.”
In any case, most were disappointed that the minimum wage increase did not affect everyone. One user summarized the overall sentiment of most people discussing the change: “Well, he’s not earning my vote with policies that do not help me.”
