JERSEY CITY -- Dozens of people gathered outside of the Grove Street PATH station on Saturday to advocate for a $15 minimum wage.

The rally was organized by 15 Now NJ, and was co-sponsored by a number of organizations promoting a minimum wage hike for the state.

"Our minimum wage of $8.44 is not enough... it really isn't enough for anybody to survive on," said Debra Lamego, an organizer with 15 Now NJ, as well as the Hudson County Green Party. "We want to remind people that this is a serious issue because lives are at stake. People are trying to make rent, feed their families, payoff college tuition... you have to have three part-time jobs just to stop from going under."

The group demands a $15 minimum wage "with scheduled increases to $20 an hour by 2022, and automatic raises that keep pace with inflation thereafter," said Brian Powers, one of the founders of 15 Now NJ.

Group leaders also railed against state leadership for failing to pass a resolution to put the minimum wage hike on the ballot in 2016.

"We learned that not a single politician in Trenton was willing to stand with low-wage workers and publicly urge their colleagues to send the vetoed bill to the people of New Jersey for a vote," Powers said. "That is why this year we are redoubling our efforts to empower working people and activate them into a fighting movement."

Gov. Chris Christie vetoed a bill in August that would have increased the minimum wage in stages, ending with $15 an hour in 2020. Christie said businesses would not be able to handle the increases.

Speakers on behalf of a number of organizations including the Socialist Party USA, and the Green Party of New Jersey -- among others -- echoed the demands of 15 Now NJ.

"I think the current minimum wage is a joke," said Pat Noble, national co-chair of the Socialist Party USA. "I don't know why anyone could expect anyone to live on that. (A $15 minimum wage) would be a tremendous step in the right direction."

In 2013, New Jersey voters overwhelmingly approved a ballot initiative raising the state's minimum wage and tying future increases to inflation.

The federal minimum wage is $7.25 an hour.