Skip to main content

WBFO (NPR): Buffalo, What's Next? Pushing for a Higher Minimum Wage in NYS

WBFO (NPR), March 15, 2023

... Hear from Johanna Dominguez, owner of Put a Plant On It in Buffalo, an Elmwood Village plant shop that specializes in rare plants, interior plant decorating and even plant sitting. She recently joined with a coalition of business owners to advocate for an increase in New York State's minimum wage and pushes back against the idea that it would hurt business.

LISTEN

Long Island Business News: On LI, a push to raise the minimum wage

By Adina Genn
Long Island Business News, March 13, 2023

A coalition is fighting to increase the minimum wage for New Yorkers to $21.25 by 2026. Members of the Raise UP NY coalition held a press conference in Uniondale last week, urging New York Gov. Kathy Hochul and the state legislature to raise the state’s minimum wage. Advocates say that on Long Island it should be raised by 2026, and then adjusted automatically each year to keep up with not only rising costs of living but also gains in worker productivity..

“The current minimum wage doesn’t reflect...

Baltimore Business Journal: ACE Hardware local owner tying wage increases to inflation even without Maryland mandate

By Garrett Dvorkin
Baltimore Business Journal, March 13, 2023

Gina Schaefer is going to raise the minimum wage at her ACE Hardware stores ... and keep raising it to match inflation every year, no matter what the Maryland General Assembly does this year.

Schafer, who operates 15 stores in Maryland, Virginia, and Washington, D.C., has a policy to pay employees based on the highest salary requirements of all her store locations. D.C. moves its minimum wage from $16.10 to $17 on July 1, and will increase the minimum wage to keep up with the Consumer Price Index...

Fingerlakes1: What happens if minimum wage is increased to $20+ per hour in next 2-3 years?

By Edwin Viera
Fingerlakes1.com, March 9, 2023 

A bill in the New York State Legislature would increase the minimum wage to over $20 by 2026. ...

Alissa Barron-Menza, vice president of the group Business for a Fair Minimum Wage, described how raising the minimum wage could reduce small business employee turnover.

“When we raise the minimum wage,” said Barron-Menza, “that pays off for businesses in lower turnover, reduced hiring and training costs, fewer errors, and better productivity as workers can afford to stick around longer and get to know your business better. And, ultimately better customer service which...

Public News Service: Proposed Bill Would Raise NY Minimum Wage Over $20

By  Edwin J. Viera
Public News Service, March 9, 2023, run by more than 100 outlets across New York and nationally

A bill in the New York State Legislature would increase the minimum wage to over $20 by 2026. ...

Alissa Barron-Menza, vice president of the group Business for a Fair Minimum Wage, described how raising the minimum wage could reduce small business employee turnover.

"When we raise the minimum wage," said Barron-Menza, "that pays off for businesses in lower turnover, reduced hiring and training costs, fewer errors, and better productivity as workers can afford to...

Buffalo News: In a hot job market, fewer workers earn the minimum wage, but the push is on to raise it

By Samantha Christmann
Buffalo News, March 7, 2023. Also in the Auburn Citizen, Post Star (Glens Falls)

The state's minimum wage is headed toward $15 per hour. But a group of business owners said it doesn't go far enough to ensure an appropriate wage for working people, and are pushing to tie the minimum wage to inflation. Advocates of the Raise the Wage Act say gains made by minimum wage increases have been eroded by inflation. The bill calls for indexing the minimum wage – tying it to inflation rates and moving the minimum wage by...

The Business Journals: Majority of business leaders back minimum wage hike

By Andy Medici
The Business Journals, March 6, 2023

A majority of business leaders and executives support annual increases in the federal minimum wage, according to a new survey by compensation data and services firm PayScale Inc.

The survey of compensation professionals, human resources leaders and business executives found 75% of U.S. respondents agreed the federal minimum wage should be increased. About 66% said the minimum wage, which currently stands at $7.25 per hour, should go up automatically every year to keep up pace with the cost of living. ...

The federal minimum wage, however, has remained unchanged...

New York Amsterdam News: Some NYC biz owners pushing to raise minimum wage

By Karen Juanita Carrillo
New York Amsterdam News, March 2, 2023

More than 200 New York businesses and business organizations have signed on to the New York Business for a Fair Minimum Wage statement, which calls for passage of legislation that would raise the state’s minimum wage and index future increases to the cost of living.

The business owners signing on to the statement say they believe that with higher salaries, wage earners will become confident consumers who will have the income to help spur the local economy.

“Prices have increased but the minimum...