BFMW In the News

By Laura Murgatroyd, Sarah Hallam and Michelle Stoddart
Columbia Missourian, Nov 2, 2018. Also in St. Joseph's News Press, Warrensburg Daily Star, Houston Herald, Bonner County Daily Bee.

Proponents of raising the minimum wage say that businesses should be required to pay their workers enough to afford basics like housing and food. ...

A petition by Missouri Business for a Fair Minimum Wage has collected more than 500 [now over 675] signatures from business owners in Missouri in support of raising the minimum wage.

By Jessica Karins
Kirksville Daily Express,  Nov 2, 2018

Missouri has not raised its minimum wage since 2006, and state lawmakers have knocked down municipalities’ attempts to increase it on the local level. That could change this Nov. 6 when Proposition B goes up for a vote statewide. ...

Over 700 small business owners and executives have signed on to endorse Proposition B through an organization called Business for a Fair Minimum Wage.

By Jason Rosenbaum and Jo Mannies
St. Louis Public Radio, KWMU-1, Nov 1, 2018

After years of starts and stops, activists in favor of raising Missouri’s minimum wage may finally find success this year with a ballot proposition that increases the state’s wage floor from $7.85 an hour to $12 an hour by 2023. ...

The committee seeking to raise the minimum wage, known as Raise Up Missouri, is touting support from a slew of business owners. That includes Dorothy Jones, who owns a custom clothing business in St. Louis.

By Kathryn Palmer
KBIA (NPR), Oct 31, 2018

On Nov. 6, Missourians will have a chance to decide if they want to raise the state minimum wage. Proposition B would increase the current $7.85 an hour minimum to $8.60 by next year. It would increase the state minimum wage 85 cents each year until it reaches $12 hour by the year 2023. So how might this affect Missouri’s low-wage workers and business owners?

Dave Elman, the owner of Fretboard Coffee in downtown Columbia thinks it would help.

Reported By Caroline Sweeney
KCTV5 News, Oct 31, 2018

Crane Brewery in Raytown has been around for three years and it’s part of a [contingent] of small businesses supporting Proposition B.

WATCH STORY

Editorial
Joplin Globe, Oct 29, 2018

Missourians working at the lower end of the wage scale make nowhere near a living wage. Your "yes" vote on Proposition B will let you start to change that. ...

Every time an increase in the minimum wage has been considered in the 80 years since it was established, naysayers have said jobs would disappear if employers were required to pay low-wage workers more. The naysayers are wrong. Nearly half the states in our nation have increased their minimum wage above the federal minimum without the foretold doom coming to pass.

Op-Ed By Ron Rivers
New Jersey Star-Ledger, Oct 29, 2018

Earlier this month, Gov. Phil Murphy presented a comprehensive vision to grow and restore confidence in New Jersey's economy. Central to the governor's plan is raising wages for Garden State workers -- a noble idea.

As the founder and owner of a small business here in New Jersey, I not only understand the importance of paying workers a living wage, but I put that value into practice every single pay period.

At my company, Love2brew, we pay all of our employees at least $15 an hour - and it works.

By the Editorial Board
Springfield News-Leader, Oct. 27, 2018

...Proposition B

Addressing low wages in southwest Missouri has long been an issue of interest for the News-Leader editorial board. Poverty rates in the area are startling. According to U.S. Census Bureau data, Springfield has a poverty rate of 25.9 percent.

Branson is 20.9 percent. Joplin, 18.5 percent. Bolivar, 20.9 percent. Monett, 28.9 percent. West Plains, 27.7 percent.

By Brenna Houck
Eater, Oct 25, 2018

Entering the feverish final weeks leading up to the November midterm elections, just about every candidate and measure feels reduced to a tribal partisan battle. Yet, one issue seems to increasingly be crossing party lines: minimum wage. This fall, voters in two states — Missouri and Arkansas — will decide whether or not to raise their respective state minimum wages. ...

In the Missouri fight, organizers have rallied the support of more than 450 local businesses, including outspoken companies from the food and beverage industry: 4 Hands Brewing Co. in St. Louis, the Rieger in Kansas City, Bambino’s Cafe in Springfield, and Mokaska Coffee Company in St. Joseph.

KTRS, St. Louis, Oct. 25, 2018

Nearly 200 St. Louis business owners are calling for voters to approve Proposition B, the ballot initiative to raise Missouri’s minimum wage.

On Thursday morning, a group of business owners joined state and local lawmakers during a press conference at Bridge Bread in south St. Louis to show their support. Those business owner discussed the reason they believe raising the minimum wage will help the economy.

By Frank Healy
WGEM News, Oct 25, 2018

Proposition B asks voters if they think the state’s minimum wage should be raised to $12.00 an hour by 2023.

It’s something small business owners in Hannibal have a big stake in.

By Celeste Bott
St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Oct 25, 2018

For St. Louis officials, the discussion surrounding the state initiative known as Proposition B, which would gradually raise Missouri’s minimum wage to $12 an hour, triggers a bit of déjà vu. ...

Other businesses support the initiative, with 170 St. Louis employers signing onto a statement in support of Prop B. Several spoke to reporters on Thursday, contending that paying workers a little more actually boosts their bottom line.

By the Editorial Board
Kansas City Star, Oct 24, 2018

         WATCH VIDEO The Rieger restaurant owner Howard Hanna talks about Missouri minimum wage vote  

As long as there has been a minimum wage, which began at 25-cents an hour in 1938, its opponents have been arguing that businesses would fail if we set one at all, or ever raised it.

Op-Ed By Gabriele Ruggieri, Owner, Gabriel's Food + Wine
...I had the opportunity to make my dream of owning a restaurant come true. ...Raising Missouri's minimum wage will have a ripple effect, benefiting local businesses and our community. ...

St. Louis Post-Dispatch Editorial, Oct 22, 2018

PHOTO: Isaac McMurry and Mackenzie MacAfee work in the back to prepare food at Pizza Head in Tower Grove East on Thursday, Oct. 18, 2018. Pizza Head owner, Scott Sandler, pays both McMurry and MacAfee well above the minimum wage and supports raising it.

The time has come for Missouri employers to get off the dime and start sharing their dollars. Minimum-wage workers are being forced to accept a pay scale that doesn’t come close to livable by today’s standards.