BFMW In the News

Times and Democrat (SC) Editorial, 7/31/07

ISSUE: Minimum wage

OUR VIEW: People need more money; business will benefit

A week ago, the minimum wage in the United States increased.

Proponents say the increase was overdue, with inflation having long ago cut into the previous hike.

Sixth District Congressman and U.S. House Majority Whip James E. Clyburn writes that the increase from $5.15 an hour to $7.25 over a two-year period will have real impact in South Carolina, which has among the lowest wages in the nation.

Northern Nevada Business Weekly, 7/30/07

The federal minimum wage will rise from $5.15 to $5.85 on July 24. The first increase in 10 years, it marks the end of the longest period without a raise since the minimum wage was enacted in 1938.

The minimum wage will again increase to $6.55 in 2008 and to $7.25 in 2009.

However, when adjusted for inflation, those minimum wage workers will have less buying power than minimum wage workers had half a century ago, says Business for Shared Prosperity, a nationwide network of employers and investors.

Contrary to conventional wisdom, growing numbers of businesses say increase in minimum wage is good for the bottom line

The Chandler & Brownsboro Statesman, 7/26/07
Brownsboro, TX

By Dr. Amy K. Glasmeier
Poverty in America Project, Penn State, 7/26/07

By John Arensmeyer
OpEdNews.com, 7/25/07

The sky is not going to fall.

On July 24, the federal minimum wage increased for the first time in ten years, moving up 70 cents from $5.15 an hour to $5.85. It will take two more years before the final step in the raise to $7.25 takes place in 2009.

By Mike Kelly
Cox News Service, 7/24/07

WASHINGTON - A hike in the federal minimum wage went into effect on Tuesday for the first time in ten years, ending the longest stretch without such an increase since the minimum wage was enacted in 1938.

The minimum wage rose 70 cents, from $5.15 an hour to $5.85 an hour. This wage raise is the first of three scheduled to take effect over the next two years.

By Steve Fernlund
Distributed by the American Forum, 7/20/07
Known placements to date include Eastern Group Publications, Prince George's Sentinel (MD), LA Watts Times, Daytona Beach News Journal, Daily Statesmen (MO), Coalfield Progress (VA), Sun Advocate (UT), Clinton News (MS), Grant County Herald (MN), Crookston Daily News (MN), Winchester Sun (KY), Beaumont Enterprise (TX).

The federal minimum wage is rising July 24 for the first time since 1997. This is the longest period between adjustments since the federal minimum wage was enacted in 1938.

70 cent raise is first increase in 10 years

By Tammy Joyner
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, 7/24/07

Connor Adams started his first job less than a month ago and already he's slated for a raise, thanks to Uncle Sam.

"Oh! Really?" the 15-year-old responded when told of the extra money he'll get in his paycheck starting today.

He was hired at $5.50 an hour — above the old hourly minimum wage of $5.15 — to bus tables for the summer at Grant Central Pizza & Pasta Restaurant in Grant Park. Now, he'll get $5.85 an hour, the result of Congress passing an increase this year.

By Holly Sklar
Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune News Service, 7/19/07
Minuteman Media, 8/15/07
Known placements to date include Sacramento Bee, Hartford Courant, Providence Journal, Cleveland Plain Dealer, Virginian Pilot, Raleigh News & Observer, Pittsburgh Tribune Review, Reno Gazette Journal, Lansing State Journal, Topeka Capital-Journal, Sioux Falls Argus Leader, Asheville Citizen Times (NC), Post-Bulletin (MN), Dominion Post (WV), Times Argus (VT), Rutland Herald (VT), Grand Forks Herald (ND), The Hour (CT), Daily Union (KS), Batavia Daily News (NY), Aurora Sentinel (CO), Stamford Times (CT), Champion Free Press (GA), AccountabilityCentral.com, CommonDreams.org, OpEdNews.com, etc.

Minimum wage workers made $5.15 an hour when Harry Potter became a sensation a decade ago, and nothing more until July 24, three days after the final Harry Potter book release.

The same year Harry Potter and the $5.15 minimum wage made their debuts, in 1997, Business Week declared CEO pay was "Out of Control." Since then, CEO pay has gotten more out of control.

The first minimum wage increase in a decade took effect this week, prompting debate among business owners

By Angus Loten
Inc., 7/24/07

Following the first raise in the federal minimum wage in a decade, which took effect this week, business, trade, and employee groups continue to clash over its long-term impact on small business.

By Lya Sorano
Atlanta Journal Constitution, 07/24/07

In Georgia, one of the reddest of the "red states," one might expect an almost universal denouncement of the raise in the minimum wage. In fact, the opposite is true.

Business owners and managers I've spoken with aren't concerned. They're glad the minimum wage is going up because workers deserve it and they believe it will help our local economy.

By Rev. Rebekah Jordan
Memphis Commercial Appeal, Special to Viewpoints, July 24, 2007

Today, minimum wage workers will finally start receiving something they've been waiting a decade for: a raise. The 10 years during which the U.S. Congress blocked a minimum wage increase was the longest period without a raise since the wage floor was established in 1938.

By Jessica Pupovac
AHN (All Headline News), 7/24/07

Washington, DC (AHN) - Advocates for low-wage workers today are celebrating the first increase in the federal minimum wage to go into effect for over a decade, from $5.15 to $5.85 an hour.

The step is part of a three-part process legislated by Congress in May. On July 24, 2009, at its culmination, the federal minimum wage will reach $7.25. That comes to just over $15,000 a year before taxes for a 52-week work year. The federal poverty level for singles is $10,210, couples is $13,690 and $17,170 for families of three.

By Staff
Gifts & Decorative Accessories, 7/24/07

Washington, DC — For the first time in 10 years, the minimum wage increased on July 24 to $5.58 an hour from $5.15. Another increase, to $6.55, will follow on July 24, 2008 and yet another on July 24, 2009 to $7.25.

The increase marks the end of the longest period without a raise since the minimum wage was enacted in 1938.

North Fulton Times, 7/24/07

July 20, 2007, Georgia – On July 24, for the first time in ten years, the federal minimum wage will go up – marking the end of the longest period without a raise since the minimum wage was enacted in 1938. Many Georgia workers will get a raise from $5.15 to $5.85 next week. Contrary to conventional wisdom, many businesses are cheering the raise.