BFMW In the News

Op-Ed By Ward Tefft, Owner, Chop Suey Books
... There is simply no more direct and rapid way to boost consumer spending and strengthen Virginia’s business environment than to raise the minimum wage statewide. ...

By Tyler Arnold
The Center Square, Feb 12, 2020. Also The Central Virginian, The Breeze (James Madison University)

The Virginia House of Delegates and Senate have passed bills that would increase the commonwealth's minimum wage, but the chambers aren't on the same page in how to implement the increase.

By Ally Schweitzer
WAMU, Feb 11 2020

The Virginia House of Delegates has approved a bill that would raise the state’s minimum wage to $15 by 2025. Legislation sponsored by Del. Jeion Ward (D-Hampton) passed the chamber 55-45 Tuesday. ...

The Virginia Interfaith Center, progressive groups and the organization Business for a Fair Minimum Wage applauded the bill’s passage.

By Vernon Freeman Jr.
WTVR-TV (CBS), Feb 11, 2020

RICHMOND, Va. – A bill that would gradually raise Virginia's minimum hourly wage to $15.00 per hour, is one step closer to becoming state law. The Virginia House passed HB 395 along a party line vote Tuesday afternoon, 55-45. ...

However, other groups like, Business for a Fair Minimum Wage, applauded the House’s passage of the bill.

 By Seth Sandronsky
Progressive Populist, Feb 1, 2020

A new year is bringing higher wages to many folks who labor for a living in America. Nearly seven million US workers out of a paid labor force of 157 million are getting minimum wage hikes in 25 states and the District of Columbia in 2020. Business for a Fair Minimum Wage, a national advocacy group, backs that hourly pay increase partly for how it can cut employee turnover and reduce the price tag to hire and train new workers.

By Amanda Parris
Dover Post (DE), Jan 29, 2020

When it comes to raising the the minimum pay rate, living wage arguments are at the forefront with business owners concerned about how it will affect them, while legislators want to find a balance that works for everyone. ...

Courtney Sunborn, owner of Ecolistic Cleaning in Lewes, said she has had success paying a living wage. Her employees, who she said are paid well above minimum wage, are more invested in their work.

By Dan Brook
Medium, Jan 21, 2020

Minimum wage workers are being hit hard by low pay and rising costs. It’s been over 80 years since the United States introduced a minimum wage and over 10 years since it became a measly $7.25, while the cost of living has increased 18% since 2009 (and an even larger 26% for food and a punishing 65% for education). The minimum wage is a poverty wage, not keeping up with the economy — let alone corporate profits, stock prices, worker productivity, and CEO salaries — and it continues to lose purchasing power due to inflation. ...

By Andy Koen
KOAA News, Jan 17, 2020

COLORADO SPRINGS — Thousands of Coloradans are getting bigger paychecks this month. The state's minimum wage rose to $12 per hour on New Year's Day. It is the fourth structured minimum wage increase to occur under Amendment 70, which was passed by voters in 2016. ...

Higher wages have been a consistent part of Richard Skorman's business model for his four downtown enterprises. He said he purposely pays his 55 employees a living wage and benefits as a matter of principle. That decision has some benefits.

By Melissa Steele
Cape Gazette (DE), Jan 17, 2020

... Senate Bill 105, which would raise the minimum wage $1 a year until it reaches $15 an hour in 2024, received support Jan. 14 from a Wilmington union representing cleaners and from several legislators. ...

“Increased wages will mean people are spending more and stimulating the economy from the bottom up,” said Alissa Barron-Menza, vice president of Business for a Fair Minimum Wage.

A livable wage is something that should have been done a long time ago, said Rep. John Kowalko, D-Newark. ...

By Erin Achenbach
Call Newspapers, Jan 16, 2020

By Mark Fowser
WDEL News Radio, Jan 14, 2020

They work in restaurants, barber shops, salons, repair shops, and in the service industry. Many of them are having trouble making ends meet as they earn Delaware's minimum wage of $9.25 an hour.

On the steps of Legislative Hall Tuesday, January 14, 2020, as members of the House and Senate met for the first time in the new year, union leaders and unionized workers rallied in support of a $15 minimum wage by 2024. ...

...Courtney Sunborn, owner of Ecolistic Cleaning in Lewes, said in a Business for a Fair Minimum Wage press release that increasing wages will help businesses retain employees.

“Our business is built on trust between us, our clients and our employees, so when we hire, we want to make sure our hardworking employees are going to stay,” Sunborn said. “We want them feeling valued and getting paid fairly, so we start them well above the current minimum wage, which is not a decent floor for Delaware.”

By John Smith
WAER/NPR (Syracuse U, NY), Jan 3, 2020

New York's minimum wage increased across the state this week to $11.80 an hour – outside of New York City - and one Ithaca business owner says she’s ok with it.  Jan Rhodes Norman owns Ithaca Made and Silk Oak clothing and has already been paying two full-time employees higher than the state’s minimum wage for years now. They earn $15.37 an hour. ...

By Callum Borchers
WBUR, Jan 1, 2020

Massachusetts keeps chugging toward a $15 minimum wage. Next stop: $12.75. ...

"We do it because it's the right thing to do," said Rob Everts, co-CEO of Equal Exchange in West Bridgewater. "It's also in our own, enlightened self interest. Paying a good, strong wage cultivates loyalty. Turnover here is low, and that helps us at many levels."

By Mike LaCrosse
WBZ TV/CBS, Jan 1, 2020

BOSTON (CBS) — The state’s minimum wage increased on New Year’s Day. It jumped from $12 per hour to $12.75. By 2023 it will be up to $15 per hour.

“Restaurants are, you know, one of the biggest employers in the country, but they’re also the biggest employers at the minimum wage level,” said restaurant owner Josh Lewin.

Lewin is co-founder of Juliet in Somerville where every employee starts out at $15 an hour. He’s a strong supporter of the minimum wage increase. ...