A national network of business owners and executives who
believe a fair minimum wage makes good business sense
Business for a Fair Minimum Wage is a national network of business owners and executives who believe a fair minimum wage makes good business sense
By Bob Salsberg
Associated Press (AP), April 14, 2018
BOSTON — Democratic legislative leaders and Republican Gov. Charlie Baker are hoping to reach deals that would keep some prospective ballot questions from reaching voters in November, but they're running short on time and their bargaining clout appears limited.
By Katie Johnston
Boston Globe, April 10, 2018
By Christopher Fenn
The American Agora, April 2, 2018
By Ned Atwater
Baltimore Sun, Letter to the Editor, March 28, 2018
In the final days of Maryland’s legislative session, lawmakers have an opportunity to raise the state’s minimum wage to $15 by 2023 and phase out the tipped sub-minimum wage by 2025. As a restaurant owner, I know the increases will be good for business, good for Baltimore and beneficial to our state (“Raising the Md. minimum wage would stabilize families — and destabilize the underground economy,” Jan. 31).
Op-Ed By Gina Schaefer
Baltimore Business Journal, March 21, 2018
By Michelle Shvimer
Daily Free Press, March 21, 2018
Nearly 300 people gathered to spread a message to their legislators demanding job-protected paid leave and a $15 minimum wage at Boston’s St. Paul’s Episcopal Cathedral Tuesday night. ...
Raise Up MA members and supporters counteracted the idea that teenagers should be exempt from the rise in minimum wage during the meeting.
Michael Kanter, the co-founder of Cambridge Naturals, a retail health store, said he is against the idea of a lower minimum wage for teenagers.
By Steven H. Foskett Jr.
Worcester Telegram & Gazette, March 20, 2018
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. ...
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!” ...
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
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.
By Hank Kalet
NJ Spotlight, Feb 26, 2018
Backers say the benefits of higher minimum wage would benefit both workers and small businesses
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 the area.
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.