By Steven H. Foskett Jr. 
Worcester Telegram & Gazette, March 20, 2018

WORCESTER - Activists on a statewide “briefing tour” stopped at Belmont A.M.E. Zion Church on Illinois Street Tuesday night to show members of the legislative delegation their continued commitment to raising the minimum wage and providing paid family and medical leave. Organized by Raise Up Massachusetts, the briefing featured testimony from workers and families who would benefit from raising the minimum wage in the state from $11 an hour to $15 an hour, and who would be able to take advantage of a paid...

Columbus Radio Group, March 14, 2018

COLUMBUS – Democratic lawmakers want to give Ohio’s lowest-paid workers a raise, though the proposal faces long odds in the Republican-controlled Statehouse. The legislators, flanked by workers’ advocates and progressive policy experts, announced a bill to raise the state’s minimum wage in 50-cent-an-hour steps to $15 per hour over the next seven years. ...

Business groups have already weighed in with their opposition despite a 2014 survey the lawmakers cited, from the American Sustainable Business Council and Business for a Fair Minimum Wage, which found that small business owners...

Fall River Reporter, March 11, 2018

New Bedford, MA – South Coast legislators were met with a message Saturday from the voters gathered at the Carney Academy in New Bedford for a Fall River/New Bedford briefing on paid leave and a $15 minimum wage: “Pass These Bills!” ...

The briefing is part of a statewide tour pushing for passage of paid leave and a $15 minimum wage this spring, with events occurring in the South Coast, Springfield, Lawrence, Worcester, Boston, the North Shore, and Brockton throughout March and early April. Members of the Raise Up...

By Carlos Marquina, March 7, 2018

ANNAPOLIS, Maryland—In a hearing before the House Economic Matters Committee, supporters of a proposed hike in Maryland’s minimum wage argued that the current rate leaves hundreds of thousands of the state’s working families trapped in a cycle of poverty. ...

Story includes Gina Schaefer, owner, A Few Cool Hardware Stores

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By Adam Uzialko
Business.com, Feb 27, 2018

Don't just think of paying more than minimum wage as an expense. It can be an investment in the overall health of your business.

The federal minimum wage, and those mandated by states and localities, represents a requirement for the floor for payment that employers must offer. However, the minimum wage does not always line up with the cost of living in a given area, nor do real wages necessarily rise with productivity or profits.

Many business owners are necessarily concerned with expenses, and fear raising wages could...

By Hank Kalet
NJ Spotlight, Feb 26, 2018

Backers say the benefits of higher minimum wage would benefit both workers and small businesses

... Jon Whiten, vice president of NJPP, a liberal think tank that focuses on economic issues, said during a telephone press conference Thursday that there is a rare "consensus in Trenton" that "raising the minimum wage to a more livable, family-sustaining wage is a top priority." NJPP, hoping to influence the debate and push the state Legislature to move quickly, issued a report Thursday offering data it says supports the need for...

By  Reggie Fullwood 
Jacksonville Free Press, Feb 20, 2018

... We live in the greatest country in the world – a job should be a bridge out of poverty, an opportunity to a make a living from the work or services you provide. But for minimum wage workers, especially those with families, it is not. ...

And for those who think that raising the minimum wage is bad for the economy – that’s nonsense. A number of researchers have found that modestly higher minimum wages can raise incomes for low-wage workers without reducing the number of jobs in...

Op-Ed by Holly Sklar
Philadelphia Inquirer, Feb 9, 2018

This month marks a golden anniversary for wages, but it’s not a happy occasion.

When the federal minimum wage went up 50 years ago in February 1968, it turned out to be the high point in minimum-wage purchasing power for Pennsylvania workers.

Adjusted for the cost of living, the buying power of 1968’s minimum wage of $1.60 an hour is worth $11.53 in today’s dollars, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics’ Inflation Calculator.

By Matt Heckel
ABC 27 News, Feb 5, 2018

HARRISBURG, Pa. (WHTM) — A push continues at the state Capitol for Pennsylvania to raise the minimum wage. Pennsylvania’s minimum wage currently is $7.25 an hour. Senate Bill 1044 would raise it to $15 an hour over the next six years. ...

John Traynor, the owner of Harrisburg’s Midtown Arts Center, says he currently starts employees at $12 an hour, and it helps the entire community.

“By paying a livable wage and that means they’re able to live in Midtown, able to spend money in Midtown, able...

Op-Ed By Holly Sklar, CEO, Business for a Fair Minimum Wage
...In February 1968, the federal minimum wage increased to $1.60 an hour, giving minimum wage workers what would turn out to be the highest level of purchasing power they would enjoy for the next 50 years. ...

By Scott Dance
The Baltimore Sun, Jan 15, 2018

A coalition of Democrats, union leaders and workers launched a campaign to raise Maryland’s minimum hourly wage to $15 on Monday, saying they chose to do so on Martin Luther King Jr. Day to carry on his message of justice and fairness.

They are proposing to reach that wage floor by 2023, a move they say would benefit about 570,000 workers, about a fifth of the state’s work force. They cited data from a United Way study released last year that showed that 35 percent of...

By Bob Stephens
Colorado Springs Business Journal, January 5, 2018

Controversy surrounded Colorado’s minimum wage increase even before it passed in the November 2016 election, and that hasn’t changed more than a year later as local business owners remain divided on the subject. About 55 percent of Colorado voters were in favor of Amendment 70, which incrementally raises the state’s minimum wage from $8.31 in 2016 to $12 by 2020. ...

Tracy duCharme has a different outlook on the minimum wage increase, arguing that a rising tide lifts all boats. Since 2009 she has owned Color...

By Meg Bantle
The Valley Advocate, Jan 2, 2018

... For labor activists, 2018 could be the year they get a measure for a $15 minimum wage before Massachusetts voters, which would mean the state would join California and New York, which have already passed $15 minimum wage legislation. ...

Some business owners in the Pioneer Valley and beyond support the minimum wage increase and have already started to make adjustments internally to afford the added cost.

At Real Pickles in Greenfield, Founder and General Manager Dan Rosenberg said that their starting wage is currently around $13 an hour...

By Lourdes Hurtado
Noticias Telemundo, Jan 1, 2018

Carlos Álvarez, Founder of Boulder Transport, says raising the minimum wage is an important first step.

Aunque 18 estados lo incrementarán y más de cuatro millones de trabajadores se beneficiarán, en Florida y Nueva Jersey este se mantendrá por debajo de los diez dólares ...

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By Mitchell Hartman
Marketplace, January 1, 2018 

As of today, 18 states and 20 cities have new higher minimum wage requirements. The changes affect roughly 4.5 million workers. The wage hikes run across the country, from Maine to California. Then you have cities doing their own thing, setting a higher local minimum wage than the state overall. That’s happening in Minneapolis, Tacoma, Flagstaff, Palo Alto, Albuquerque – the list goes on. ...

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