Op-Ed By Charlie Crystle
Lancaster Online/LNP, March 13, 2016
Monday was an important day for Pennsylvania: Gov. Tom Wolf signed an executive order raising the minimum wage for state workers and state contractors’ workers to $10.15 per hour from $7.35 per hour. I was honored to attend the signing ceremony on behalf of thousands of business owners who believe employers should not pay poverty wages.
The move will improve the lives of 435 state employees immediately and substantially, as well as the employees of state contractors who get new state contracts. Unfortunately the order does not apply to existing contracts, so state contractors paying poverty wages will continue to profit from this damaging practice, while their lowest-paid employees scrape by on low pay and taxpayer-funded government assistance.
That’s right — you and I subsidize employers who pay poverty-level wages. Since the order does not set a new statewide minimum wage, businesses, nonprofits, school districts, hospital systems, retirement communities and other employers can choose to keep their low-paid workers in poverty.
That sounds harsh, but it is the reality: Poverty wages are the choice of the employer, and that choice continues to hurt our communities. ...
Low-paid workers are much more likely to quit. Replacing them is costly. It costs an employer the business he now can’t serve, productivity, training time, and the stability of work teams. ...
So where does the money come from to pay people a humane wage? Yes, the critics are correct: It comes from company profits, higher prices or more sales.
What do you get in return? Lower turnover. Happier, healthier, more committed and more loyal employees. Better productivity. A better company. Stronger communities. Far less poverty. Better educational outcomes. And a stronger economy, thanks to increased spending by the lowest-paid workers. ...
Let’s raise wages. We’ll be a better state with stronger communities, less poverty, safer streets and lower overall costs for social services, health care and the justice system.
Charlie Crystle is the CEO and co-founder of The Lancaster Food Co., whose mission is to make extraordinary food, sourced from organic farmers as close to home as possible, and to hire people out of poverty into thriving-wage jobs.
Copyright 2016 Charlie Crystle