By Ina Paiva Cordle
Miami Herald, July 5, 2014
... Although the Florida Legislature did not raise the state-mandated minimum wage during its last session, some minimum wage workers — like the Ikea cashiers who ring up your Swedish biscuits, the salespeople at Gap who help you find your T-shirt size, and the tellers at C1 Bank who deposit your checks — will see their pay increase.
Companies including Ikea and Gap ... have recently announced or instituted voluntary increases in their minimum wages ahead of proposed national legislation that could mandate a new federal floor. St. Petersburg-based C1 was ahead of the pack in Florida, raising its “living wage” to $14 in April.
The businesses cite such reasons as a desire to attract and retain talented workers and boost productivity, and to enable employees to earn a decent living.
For C1 Bank, the increase carries a deeper meaning. “I was raised by a single mother in New Hampshire who worked as a secretary, so I have this personal feeling, and I really understood personally what it is like to work below a living wage,” said C1 Chief Executive Trevor Burgess.
Nationwide, the federal minimum wage is $7.25 an hour. In Florida, which adjusts its minimum hourly wage for inflation, it’s $7.93. ... A bill before Congress calls for raising the minimum wage, in three steps, to $10.10 by 2016. It would then have an annual adjustment for the cost of living. ...
The organization Business for a Fair Minimum Wage also supports the measure. Holly Sklar, the group’s executive director, said 28 million workers across the country would benefit if the minimum wage were lifted to $10.10 by 2016.
“Today’s $7.25 minimum wage has less buying power than it had in 1950, and a third less than in 1968, adjusted for inflation,” said Sklar, who is based in Boston. “We can’t build a strong economy on a falling wage floor.” ...
Other major companies also have come out in support of a higher minimum wage, including Costco, which already pays workers $11.50 or more in every state in which it operates.
The push to raise the wages of America’s lowest-paid workers has been going on for months. In Miami and cities across the country, fast-food workers have staged protests for higher wages. So far this year, 10 states and the District of Columbia have enacted minimum wage increases, Sklar said.
Companies that have increased their in-house minimum wages cite positive outcomes, including lowering employee turnover and boosting productivity and customer satisfaction.
C1’s Burgess said that not only did the wage hike help those affected by the raise — mostly tellers — it also boosted other employees’ pride in the bank and led to an influx of new customers. ...
Copyright 2014 Miami Herald