By Alex Lloyd Gross
As 2019 is ready to show up on calendar, a pay raise in in store for a lot of workers in the region. If you work in Pennsylvania, sorry, this does not apply to you. The state legislature will not even discuss it, yet along take a vote on it. The state minimum wage has remained stagnant for over 10 years. $7,25 per hour. Heck, even Philadelphia workers will get $15.00 per hour. But not YOU, if you are not a city employee. If you work for a gas station making say $9.00 per hour, you will stay at $9.00 per hour.
So, here is a list of how much your compatriots doing the same work as you will make, assuming of course that you are paid minimum wage. Delaware workers will now get $9.25 per hour. New Jersey will get $8.85 and New York will be at $15.00. Even West Virginia pays workers more than us. The stereotype of a teenager making $7.25 has been shattered. Most of the workers making $9.00 and under are adults. These adults had their main job go overseas, or close saw the business close down. Take a look at a store at 11;00 AM. Take note of who is working there. The answer is adults.
Conservative economists that will say raising the minimum wage even a penny will kill the work force are speaking without facts. Take a look at this.
This is about Seattle Washington , a city that raised their minimum wage to $15.00. The effect was so horrible that in 2019 workers get $16.00 an hour. Will some places have to close or cut workers, yes, but very few. The movie theater still needs workers and so does the building that house doctors offices and lawyers. People making more than the minimum will get a pay raise as well.
Advocates say that if you keep the minimum wage as it is, few companies will offer more than a few cents an hour more, for the simple reason that do not have to pay more. Democrats in the Pa legislature blame the republicans for not bringing this issue to a vote. Some bills, like Christina Tartaglione’s bill have gotten major support but not even a hearing. When a workers income goes up, their eligibility for SNAP benefits goes down. More tax money, and more money in the state coffers, period.
In New Jersey, Governor Phil Murphy is expected to sign legislation to raise the state minimum wage to $15.00 in 2019.