Six Flags to raise its minimum wage to $9 per hour

Six Flags Great America in Gurnee will bump up its minimum wage from $8.25 to $9 per hour starting June 29.

The raise will be given to new hires as well as returning workers not yet earning the $9 rate, or about 80 percent of its workforce, a spokeswoman for the theme park said.

This includes food service, water park personnel, ticket takers and others. Managers and department leads also got a boost, depending on the position and seniority, said Six Flags spokeswoman Kathryn Enrique.

"This is the first major increase we've had in a long time," she said. "We want to offer a proactive wage to attract more workers."

Six Flags will hire another 100 workers this season, according to the company.

Six Flags joins more than a dozen other companies nationwide that are boosting pay for workers at a time of national debate over minimum wage laws. McDonald's, which saw thousands protest seeking an increase, raised its minimum as did Aetna, Wal-Mart, TJ Maxx, Target, Starbucks and others. The Chicago City Council passed a minimum-wage increase to $9 starting July 1. The Illinois Senate passed a minimum wage of $9, but little more has been done since February.

Six Flags Great America, which opened in 1976, has about 2,500 workers, Enrique said. It often hires about 4,200 people throughout the season to make up for attrition, she said.

"As the economy is coming along, we need to be more competitive in the regional job market," she said.

The park typically receives about 20,000 applications each year, but has seen less this year, she said.

Six Flags will hold a job fair at 11:15 a.m. and 5:15 p.m. Friday on the park grounds.

"This is the biggest investment that we can make in our workers, and it's is something that was looked at last fall," Enrique said.