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 Kaitlin Milliken
Worcester Telegram & Gazette, Sept 23, 2017
BOSTON − As state legislators discuss bills to raise the minimum wage, business owners must decide if they are willing − and able − to pay their employees $15 an hour. ... Advocates say higher pay will improve employees’ quality of life, decrease job turnover and increase local spending. ...
By M.J. Tidwell
Daily Hampshire Gazette, September 22, 2017
BOSTON — Proponents of a bill to gradually raise the state’s minimum wage to $15 an hour by 2021 spoke at a Statehouse hearing this week about the difficulties of living off the current $11 standard. But they also sympathized with business owners.
Wicked Local: Arlington Advocate, Brookline Tab, others, Sept 21, 2017
On Sept. 19, Sen. Cindy Friedman, D-Arlington, testified before the Joint Committee on Labor and Workforce Development in support of S.1004, “An Act to improve the Commonwealth’s economy with a strong minimum wage and a strong tipped minimum wage,” an initiative originally filed by the late Sen. Ken Donnelly. Friedman is leading the effort in the Senate to raise the minimum wage to $15 per hour. ...
By Greg Ryan
Boston Business Journal, Sept 21, 2017
... Raise Up’s leaders say they're open to a legislative compromise on minimum wage and paid leave. They hold a major trump card, though: If those leaders don’t like a counterproposal from the business community, they can simply walk away knowing they can ask voters to OK their ideas. Business leaders acknowledge that all three measures are likely to carry high support among Massachusetts residents, at least at the moment.
By Shira Schoenberg
Springfield Republican/MassLive, Sept 20, 2017
Michael Kanter, the owner of Cambridge Naturals, a health and wellness store in Cambridge, raised his minimum wage to $15 an hour last December.
"Not only is it valuable for the people who will be getting that raise, but it's also valuable for our business," Kanter said. "It helps with employee retention, employee enthusiasm, customers get excited."
Greater Boston with Jim Braude
WGBH TV, Sept 20, 2017
It worked before and now, minimum wage activists are hoping it will work again. In 2014, Massachusetts lawmakers approved a measure to gradually raise the minimum wage. But they did it under pressure. If the lawmakers didn’t act, there was a ballot question ready to go, which would have let the people decide.
By Andy Metzger
State House News Service, Sept 20, 2017
BOSTON -- A debate over adequate worker compensation that was waged before a legislative committee Tuesday and could be headed to the ballot next November has pitted two struggling groups against one another. ...
By Elisha Machado
WWLP-22News, September 19, 2017
BOSTON, Mass. (WWLP) – A state proposal calls for raising the minimum wage in Massachusetts. Lawmakers heard from the public on a bill that would raise the state’s minimum wage to $15 per hour.
Minimum wage workers shared their stories with lawmakers on the state’s Committee on Labor and Workforce Development of working two to three jobs just to make ends meet. They’re calling on lawmakers to pass a bill that would gradually raise the minimum wage from $11 to $15 per hour by 2021. ...
Boston Neighborhood Network News, Sept 19, 2017
"Workers, advocates at State House back higher minimum wage" segment includes Rob Everts, Co-CEO, Equal Exchange.
WATCH Original Segment 1:12 - 3:20
By Bob Salsberg
Associated Press (AP), Sept 19, 2017
Backers of a drive to gradually boost the state's minimum wage to $15 an hour told a legislative committee on Tuesday that many people who work full time at their jobs still live in poverty and struggle to support their families.
The group Raise Up Massachusetts is collecting signatures to put a $15 minimum wage proposal before voters on the November 2018 ballot if the Legislature does not act on a bill during its current two-year session.
By Katie Johnston
Boston Globe, September 19, 2017
Supporters of a statewide $15 hourly minimum wage packed a State House hearing Tuesday afternoon, testifying that a pay hike would not only help workers support their families, but would stimulate the local economy by giving workers more money to spend. ...
By Michael J. Bologna
Bloomberg BNA, August 28, 2017
By Kate Rogers
CNBC, Aug 22, 2017
At Panther Coffee in Miami, no worker is paid under $10 an hour. In fact, including tips, entry-level employees take home about $15 an hour on average, well above the state's minimum of $8.10 an hour. Husband-wife owners Joel and Leticia Pollock say lower wages just aren't an option if they want to be successful.
By Peter Romeo
Restaurant Business, Aug. 15, 2017
With shoulder-length hair, a bushy beard, the lankiness of a street messiah and the clothing to match, Michael Lastoria looks more like the lead from “Jesus Christ Superstar” than CEO of a pizza chain aiming to stretch capitalism’s possibilities. ...
By Will Ashworth
The Motley Fool, July 31, 2017
... A living wage is good business
The idea of a living wage is not going away. We were not returning to the beginning of the industrial revolution when child labour was a common practice.
Loblaw is not a small business. It’s a giant food conglomerate controlled by one of Canada’s richest families. I doubt any of the Westons have trouble paying for their grocery bills at Loblaw, but many in-store employees probably do.