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Guest Column By Ricardo McQueen. Mr. McQueen is a member-leader in Florida Main Street Alliance.
The Florida Squeeze, Small Business View, July 18, 2014

I have more than a decade of experience running a small business that provides health and safety audits, training, food industry certifications, and compliance assistance for hospitality, medical and environmental businesses. You could say I’m in the business of helping other businesses be better, and do better. And I believe when it comes to economic security issues for working families, like a higher minimum wage and Earned Sick Time, we all need to do better.

... Like sick time, a minimum wage increase will set fair rules of the road, incentivize a race to the top with competition based on quality and service, and create economy-boosting jobs… instead of a race to the bottom that encourages cutting corners and under-paying employees, regardless of the costs to the economy and community.

And it turns out a hefty majority of small business owners agree with me. According to a scientific poll by the American Sustainable Business Council and Business for a Fair Minimum Wage, 61 percent of small business owners favor raising the minimum wage gradually to $10.10 and then adjusting it annually to keep pace with the cost of living. These policies will raise families up, boost consumer spending, and bolster our local economy. ...

Business lobbyists routinely argue their case against Earned Sick Time and the minimum wage in the name of small business. But when I hear that claim, I have to say it just doesn’t pass inspection.

The business groups opposing a wage increase and sick time – like the National Association of Manufacturers, National Restaurant Association, and U.S. Chamber of Commerce – represent Fortune 500 companies like General Electric, McDonald’s, and Wal-Mart… not local, independent small businesses. ...

Small businesses have good reason to be concerned about competition from big businesses. Small businesses can compete on a level playing field, but big businesses often are too willing to use their market power and political clout in anti-competitive ways to stack the deck against us.

Big businesses are also all too willing to adopt low-road workforce policies (like low pay and poor benefits) that shift labor costs off their books and onto local economies, local governments, and charities. ...

Ricardo McQueen is owner and president of Food, Health & Environmental Safety in Orlando. He is a leader with the Main Street Alliance of Florida.

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