FingerLakes1
December 17, 2023

New York State’s minimum wage is set to rise to $16 in New York City, Long Island, and Westchester County, and $15 for the rest of the state on January 1, a move welcomed by business owners across the state. ...

Business leaders across the state, including Phil Andrews, president of the Long Island African American Chamber of Commerce, and Annie Adams, owner of Second Chic in Buffalo, have expressed support for the wage increase, highlighting its potential to boost consumer spending and improve local economies.

Business owners like Michael Lastoria...

By Adina Genn
Long Island Business News, Dec 11, 2023

Beginning Jan. 1, the minimum hourly wage on Long Island, New York City and Westchester is set to increase to $16 an hour. ...

Organizations supporting the wage increase include the Long Island African American Chamber of Commerce and the New York Business for a Fair Minimum Wage Coalition.

“Small businesses thrive when the people who are our customers have more money to spend. Low wages, on the other hand, lead to high employee turnover, which is costly for businesses in recruiting and training new...

By Alexandra Rivera
Lohud/ Rockland/Westchester Journal News, Dec 11, 2023. Also in Yahoo News, AOL.com

New York's minimum wage will increase to $16 in New York City, Long Island and Westchester County in January ... Many business owners across the Hudson Valley are in support of the minimum wage increases, including Jessica Galen, owner of Bloomy Cheese and Provisions in Dobbs Ferry.

She ... is a part of the New York Business for a Fair Minimum Wage Coalition, which is comprised of more than 300 businesses across the state. The group has advocated for an...

By Tamara Chuang
Colorado Sun, Dec 9, 2023

... Colorado isn’t the only state upping the minimum wage in 2024. The state’s minimum wage changes annually depending on inflation and on Jan. 1, it’s going up to $14.42 an hour. According to Business for a Fair Minimum Wage, Colorado will have the sixth highest minimum. Washington state leads the states with $16.28. >> More

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By Christopher Rugaber
Associated Press (AP), Dec 8, 2023

U.S. employers added a healthy 199,000 jobs last month and the unemployment rate fell, fresh signs that the economy could achieve an elusive “soft landing,” in which inflation would return to the Federal Reserve’s 2% target without causing a steep recession. Friday’s report from the Labor Department showed that the unemployment rate dropped from 3.9% to 3.7%, not far above a five-decade low of 3.4% in April. ...

Aaron Seyedian, owner of a small cleaning company based in Takoma Park, Maryland, says his business is still...

By Kelsey Butler
Bloomberg, Dec 7, 2023

... This week, when I wrote about minimum wage increases taking effect across the US on Jan. 1, my LinkedIn comments were flooded with readers saying that the changes would be bad for business owners and drive up prices for consumers. ... It turns out that there are business owners — including executives at Patagonia Inc. and Unilever Plc’s Ben & Jerry's — that actually think higher wages are good business.

Aaron Seyedian is one of them. In 2017, after a career as a consultant, including at the...

By Jeanne Sahadi
CNN, Dec 6, 2023

At the start of the new year, anyone working a minimum wage job will be paid more in 22 states ...

The push for non-poverty wages

The federal minimum wage has been stuck at $7.25 since 2009. And 20 states – including Pennsylvania, New Hampshire, Alabama and Mississippi – still adhere to it. The push to raise it has gone on for years because minimum wage workers stuck at $7.25 have lost substantial buying power.

Had it just been adjusted for inflation since 2009, it would be $10.33 today. But advocates for a higher minimum wage, including Holly Sklar, CEO of Business for a Fair Minimum Wage, would rather ...

By Kelsey Butler
Bloomberg, Dec 5, 2023. Also Bloomberg Linea

Workers in New York City, Long Island and Westchester County will soon be making at least $16 an hour, a dollar more than they do now, as the state joins 21 others in lifting the minimum wage. Increases are set to take effect Jan. 1 from Rhode Island to Nebraska to California ... Washington state will require employers to pay $16.28 an hour, the nation’s highest minimum wage at the state level. ...

The coming pay gains are “a reflection of increases that have passed...

The Buffalo Criterion, Dec 2, 2023
From Business for a Fair Minimum Wage New York Media Release

On Jan. 1, New York’s minimum wage will increase to $16 in New York City, Long Island and Westchester County, and $15 for the rest of the state as the first step under New York’s minimum wage raise passed earlier this year. Business owners across New York are welcoming the minimum wage increases, saying they will boost consumer spending and bolster New York businesses.

New York’s minimum wage will continue to increase by 50 cents a year for...

By Ashley Portero
South Florida Business Journal, September 27, 2023

Florida's minimum wage will increase by one dollar on Sept. 30, nearly three year after residents voted to gradually raise the state's minimum wage until it reaches $15 an hour. ...

"It's great that wages are going up, but now the issue is it won't be enough to keep up with inflation," said Jennifer Todd, CEO of LMS General Contractors in Pompano Beach.

Todd was an early supporter of Amendment 2, a state constitutional amendment passed in 2020. The law raised Florida's minimum wage from...

By Colin A. Young
State House News Service (Massachusetts), September 27, 2023

... A slew of bills dealing with wages — the state minimum wage, the minimum wage for workers who also earn tips, wages for overtime work, and more — was before the Labor and Workforce Development Committee on Tuesday, renewing debate over what people working in Massachusetts should be paid. ...

There were some businesses that told the committee they support efforts to increase the minimum wage, many as part of the national Business for a Fair Minimum Wage coalition.

“Our strong growth...

WBUR (NPR), “All Things Considered,” September 26, 2023
Irina Matchavariani interviewed John Schall

Legislators on Beacon Hill are considering raising the state’s minimum wage. One proposal brought up at a hearing today would hike it from $15 an hour to $20 by the year 2027. John Schall is the founder of El Jefe’s Taqueria in Boston and a member of the group Business for a Fair Minimum Wage. He says local businesses will be able to retain their workforce and spend less in the long run. “If you're in a cycle where you're constantly hiring...

By Dana Gerber
Boston Globe, September 26, 2023

On Tuesday, the state’s Joint Committee on Labor and Workforce Development held hearings for bills in both chambers that would gradually raise the Massachusetts minimum wage to $20 an hour by 2027 and subsequently boost it in lockstep with inflation. The bills — presented by Representatives Tram T. Nguyen and Daniel M. Donahue in the House and Senator Jason M. Lewis in the Senate — come after the last in the series of pay hikes secured as part of the 2018 “grand bargain” legislation lifted the minimum...

Special to Lake Okeechobee News
South Central Florida Life, September 25, 2023

Florida’s minimum wage will increase from $11 to $12 an hour on Sept. 30 and business leaders across Florida are welcoming the raise, saying it will boost consumer spending, bolster local businesses and strengthen the economy. Florida’s minimum wage will continue to increase by $1 per year until it reaches $15 in 2026, followed by cost of living increases in subsequent years.

Florida voters overwhelmingly approved Amendment 2 in 2020 to raise the state minimum wage. Business owners and executives across the state...

By Micaela Hood
Lehigh Valley News, September 13, 2023

... El Jefe's Taqueria of Bethlehem will receive a Milestone Award at the Greater Lehigh Valley Hispanic Chamber of Commerce on Friday, Sept. 15. ...

Another prominent business owner, John Schall, of El Jefe's Taqueria, will accept the Milestone Award at the gala.

"One thing that interested us was that 20% of El Jefe's Taqueria [stakeholders] are Latino," Suero [AJ Suero, chair of the Greater Lehigh Valley Hispanic Chamber of Commerce] said. "We were also impressed with their out-of-the-box thinking during COVID and willingness to stay...