BFMW In the News

Newsday: Minimum wage increase has Long Island business groups worried about prices, inflation

By Victor Ocasio
Newsday, May 4, 2023

... But while many in the business community predict headwinds, other groups said the increases aren't enough.

New York Business for a Fair Minimum Wage, a coalition of around 300 businesses and organizations, had been pushing for a more ambitious increase — to $21.25 by 2026, with cost of living adjustments thereafter.

“I think it should have been increased right away,” said Phil Andrews, president of the Long Island African American Chamber of Commerce and a member of the coalition. “This has been the highest inflationary time we have probably seen in our lifetime. I don’t know how people are buying their groceries.”

Lohud/ Gannett/ Yahoo News: Minimum wage to climb to $17 in NY. Why so few New Yorkers are pleased with that deal

By Thomas C. Zambito
lohud/ Gannett, May 3, 2023. Also Yahoo News, Rochester Democrat and Chronicle, Utica Observer Dispatch, Poughkeepsie Journal, Ithaca Journal, Times Herald Record (Middletown), The Leader (Corning), more

The state’s minimum wage will increase to $17 per hour in New York City, Long Island and Westchester County over the next three years and $16 farther north as part of New York's final budget deal. ...

A coalition of 300 businesses calling themselves New York Business for a Fair Minimum Wage pushed the administration for a $21.25 minimum by 2026.

Yonkers Times: Westchester Elected Officials Join Small Biz Owners in Support of Minimum Wage Increase

Yonkers Times, April 28, 2023

Westchester small business owner Jessica Galen, owner of Bloomy Cheese & Provisions in Dobbs Ferry, spoke in support of raising the state minimum wage to $21.25 plus indexing at a press conference today in White Plains with State Sen. Shelley Mayer, Assembly Members Chris Burdick and Steve Otis, and Westchester County Legislators Damon Maher, David Imamura, Erika Pierce and Terry Clements, as well as community leaders.

The Examiner: Legislators, Worker Advocates Push to Raise New York’s Minimum Wage

By Martin Wilbur
The Examiner, April 22, 2023 

Most of Westchester’s state legislature delegation has thrown its support behind a proposal that would increase the minimum wage to $21.25 by 2026 to help thousands of lower-paid workers keep pace with inflation. ... State Sen. Shelley Mayer (D-Yonkers), a Senate co-sponsor of the bill, led a press conference on Friday in White Plains. ...

Jessica Galen, a Dobbs Ferry village trustee and the owner of BLOOMY Cheese & Provisions in her home community, said she is part of a coalition of 300 small business owners that support a minimum wage hike.

FingerLakes1: Finger Lakes business owner explains why he supports increasing minimum wage

By Josh Durso
FingerLakes1, April 22, 2023

As negotiations over the state budget intensify, over 300 businesses and business organizations across New York have joined the New York Business for a Fair Minimum Wage coalition calling on Gov. Hochul and the State Legislature to incrementally raise the minimum wage to $21.25, followed by annual indexing to keep up with the cost of living, as proposed in the Raise the Wage Act. Supporters include business leaders across the state from Buffalo and the Finger Lakes to the Capital Region and the Hudson Valley to New York City and the Long Island African American Chamber of Commerce.

This week we caught up with Ithaca business owner Leon Miller-Out, who says raising minimum wage is the right thing to do. ...

Buffalo News: Rod Watson: Late state budget will be ‘right’ only if it includes minimum wage hike

By Rod Watson
Buffalo News, April 19, 2023. Also in the Post Star (Glens Falls)

Who knew that Albany’s inability to do its primary job – pass a budget on time – could turn out to be good news for nearly 2.9 million people, or roughly a third of the state’s workforce?

That’s how many people the Economic Policy Institute estimates could benefit if state leaders use the extra time to include in the budget the Raise the Wage Act that would gradually hike New York’s minimum wage to $21.25 an hour and index it to inflation. ...

Maybe that’s why more than 300 businesses and business groups statewide – including more than 50 locally – formed the New York Business for a Fair Minimum Wage Coalition to push the issue.

WGRZ 2 NBC Buffalo: Over 300 NY businesses advocate for raising minimum wage

By Danielle Church
WGRZ 2 NBC, Buffalo, April 14, 2023

Inflation has been raising the prices of just about everything except salaries. 

On Friday, 50 small businesses in Buffalo advocated for raising the minimum wage, but they're part of more than 300 across the state making the request. ...

Small business owners who already pay their employees above minimum wage say it's both a benefit to the employee as well as the business. 

"Our employee turnover is very low, so we save money and time by not having to train new people, and our employees get to know our customers," said Aaron Bartley, owner of Fitz Books and Waffles.

WKBW 7 ABC Buffalo: Support for Raise the Wage Act

WKBW 7 ABC Buffalo, April 14, 2023

... Today in Buffalo business leaders called on the legislature to pass the Raise the Wage Act. ...  [Fitz Books & Waffles Owner Aaron Bartley said], "We have better retention ... We don't have a lot of turnover. ... It's in our self-interest as a business to have a decent living wage as a minimum wage." ...

WATCH

WBFO NPR: Small business owners urge state to include minimum wage increase in budget

By Emyle Watkins
WBFO-FM 88.7 (NPR), April 14, 2023

In Western New York, some business owners are calling for the state to raise and index the minimum wage as part of the final budget and pass the Raise the Wage Act.

Annie Adams, owner of the consignment store Second Chic, says that she realized her employees were struggling and decided to increase wages.

“About a year ago, I gave my team a bonus. Then I doubled it because they had done so much higher than their goal," Adams said. ...

Adams said her workers now start at $15 an hour if they’re part-time, but can quickly increase to $16 or $17 an hour depending on performance. She pays managers $20 and above an hour.

WIVB-TV News 4 CBS: Buffalo business leaders are calling on the governor and legislature to raise the minimum wage

WIVB-TV News, 4 CBS, Buffalo, April 14, 2023

As the state budget debate continue in Albany without resolution, Buffalo business leaders are calling on the governor and legislature to once again raise the minimum wage. The New York Business for a Fair Minimum Wage Coaliton says they're supporting a plan to raise minimum wage to $21.25 and then be indexed in the future to coincide with inflation. ...

[Da’Von McCune, Owner, D Real McCoy Entertainment LLC said], "It creates a looming sense of despair for people to spend more and more time working and still barely being able to make ends meet. When we raise New York's minimum wage we will help other businesses benefit from a more focused and productive team and better service for our customers and clients."

The Ithaca Voice: Local businesses, advocates closely watching state minimum wage debate

By Jimmy Jordan
The Ithaca Voice, April 10, 2023

As negotiations continue over the New York State budget after missing its initial April 1 deadline, business owners, workers, and labor advocates in Tompkins County are all waiting to see what becomes of the state’s minimum wage. ...

Joe Wetmore, the former owner of Autumn Leaves Used Books, said he supported further increasing the minimum wage and tying it to inflation. He criticized Hochul’s proposal to give the governor’s office the power to cap the increases to the minimum wage that would come as a result of inflation.