BFMW In the News

By Hunter Field
Arkansas Democrat Gazette, December 31, 2019 

Arkansans earning the state's minimum wage will receive a $1,560 raise in 2020 as the state's bottom wage increases to $10 an hour under an initiated act passed in 2018. Under the voter-approved initiative, Arkansas businesses must pay employees no less than $10 an hour starting Wednesday -- a 75-cent increase from the current $9.25 per hour minimum wage. ... The 2020 wage increase is the second step of a three-year phase-in that will ultimately raise the Arkansas minimum wage to $11 an hour in 2021. ...

... The minimum wage – stuck at $7.25/hour at the federal level since 2009 – will rise in 22 states, including Arkansas, Arizona, California, Colorado, Missouri, New Mexico and Washington. ... Expect more movement on pay in the coming months as states strive to help the lowest-paid workers better afford the soaring cost of housing, healthcare, and child care. Three additional states – Connecticut, Nevada and Oregon – and Washington, D.C., will boost theirs later in 2020, and a national effort is underway led by groups such as Business for a Fair Minimum Wage and the National Employment Law Project to gradually raise the federal minimum wage to $15/hour by the middle of the new decade.

By Michael L. Diamond
Asbury Park Press, Dec. 30, 2019

New Jersey's minimum wage for most businesses will rise to $11 an hour from $10  beginning Jan. 1 — Wednesday, the next step on its climb to $15 in 2024. ... The minimum wage hike started July 1 in a bid by Gov. Phil Murphy to jump-start the wages of low-paid workers in a state that has a high cost of living. One recent report found nearly 40% of New Jerseyans couldn't afford basic needs. ...

By L. Kim Tan
Boston Globe, Dec 29, 2019

What can you buy for 75 cents – the boost in Massachusetts’ minimum hourly wage that takes effect Wednesday? ... over a working day the difference between the 2019 minimum of $12 an hour and 2020’s $12.75 is enough to pay for a nutritious lunch.

Raising the minimum wage is a big deal.

By Shira Schoenberg
Springfield Republican / MassLive, Dec 28, 2019

The Massachusetts minimum wage will increase from $12 to $12.75 an hour on Jan. 1, a step toward raising the minimum wage to $15 an hour by 2023. The Massachusetts Budget and Policy Center estimates that 420,600 workers will get a raise under the new law, many of them working in food service and retail. ...

But some business owners say they want to pay their workers a living wage.

By Ron Johnson
KQTV2 (ABC), Dec 27, 2020

(ST. JOSEPH, Mo.) ...In 2020, Missouri’s minimum wage will rise from $8.60/hr to $ 9.45/hr. In downtown St. Joseph, many shared their opinion on the changes, they said the rise is a step in the right direction to balancing wages with the rising cost of living. ...

Those who own small businesses downtown also expressed support for the wage increase.

"We’re strong supporters of treating our employees fairly," Andrew Montee, owner Mokaska Coffee Co. said. "People who work hard should be paid fairly and accordingly,"

MetroWest Daily News (MA), Dec 27, 2019. Also in Milford Daily News and many other papers

Ben Werschkul
Yahoo Finance, Dec 27, 2019

Twenty-one states are increasing their minimum wage for the new year with workers from Arizona to Vermont set to see an increase.

As Keith Mestrich, CEO of Amalgamated Bank and a fan of the wage hike noted on Yahoo Finance’s YFi PM, “It's going to be a really happy holiday for a lot of people around the country.” ...

Yahoo Finance, Dec 26, 2019

Over 20 states are gearing up to hike the raise minimum wage in 2020, but one bank is already ahead of the game. Amalgamated Bank CEO and President Keith Mestrich joins Yahoo Finance’s Heidi Chung and Brian Sozzi, along with New York Post Finance Reporter Thornton McEnery to discuss why the company has raised its minimum hourly wage on YFi PM.

WATCH VIDEO

Gasconade County Republican, Dec 26, 2019

Missouri workers making minimum wage will see their pay increase 85 cents an hour to $9.45 beginning Jan. 1, 2020.

By John Unrein
Bake Magazine, Dec 26, 2019

Twenty-one states are kicking off the new year by raising their minimum wage, and certain business owners are speaking out in support. These business leaders say the increases taking effect on Dec. 31 and Jan. 1 will boost consumer spending, reduce costly employee turnover, increase productivity and customer satisfaction, and strengthen local economies. ...

By  Frank L. Cahill
Parsippany Focus (NJ), Dec 20, 2019. Also in the Morris County Focus.

PARSIPPANY — New Jersey’s minimum wage will increase to $11.00 on January 1, in another step toward the $15.00 minimum wage enacted in February. Business leaders say that raising the minimum wage will boost consumer buying power, foster a more stable and productive workforce, and strengthen businesses and the economy.

By Tod Perry
Upworthy, Sept 27, 2019

The federal minimum wage in the United States is a paltry $7.25 and it hasn't gone up since 2009.

"It's not acceptable," Holly Sklar, CEO of the advocacy group Business for a Fair Minimum Wage, told CNBC. "The whole point of the minimum wage is to have it go up regularly. It shouldn't sit still every year when the cost of living is going up. The minimum wage is losing value." ...

Read more

By Elizabeth G Dunn
Bloomberg, September 10, 2019

Michael Lastoria, chief executive officer of &Pizza, a Washington, D.C.-based chain with 36 locations up and down the East Coast, is tall, slim, and serene, with a full beard and brown hair that falls past his shoulders. ...

By Andrew Bloomenthal
Investopedia, Updated Aug 4, 2019

... Since 2009, the federal minimum wage has been $7.25, or $15,080 a year. Many economists believe this is woefully inadequate and unjust. ...  Groups like Small Business Majority, Main Street Alliance and Business for a Fair Minimum Wage also support a higher wage, which they believe will inspire employee loyalty and boost workplace morale, which leads to more satisfied customers and an increase in consumer spending.

The Real Issue: Who Can Survive on Today's Minimum Wage?