By Alex Lloyd Gross
Grumbling around the state capitol have gotten louder. The republican majority are ready to negotiate with Senator Tina Tartagiolne for a minimum wage increase. The Democratic. Senator cancelled a previously scheduled interview on this subject, to make calls. That is a good sign for the lowest paid workers in this state. The republicans are worried after the blue wave of the last election. They are up for reelection next year and the lowest paid workers in the state are still stuck at $7.25/hr. Meanwhile senators and representatives get a Cost Of Living Adjustment, which equals to several thousand dollars per year.
As Tartaglione is pushing for an increase, republicans will push back. They will argue that a raise too high will cost jobs. They are correct. If this get implemented to $15.00/hr overnight, the shock would decimate Pennsylvania’s economy. That is why a more modest increase is most likely. This writer went to see how true the studies were about lost job sand increased prices. Wendy’s and McDonalds were chosen..
A visit to Philadelphia establishments where the median wage was $8.75/hr had a front line crew of 9. In New Jersey where the wage got raised to $10.00 in July and gets raised again to $11.00 in January, The average wage was $11.75/hr and the front line crew was 10. It must be said that the prices in both establishments remained the same. It cost the same . It cost the same $2.5 million or more to open a franchise in PA., as it does in New Jersey. The only difference is owners make more in Pa. That is why the National Restaurant Association is throwing millions at local politicians to keep the wage down. They want their members( IE owners) rich and happy. The reason they pay workers $8.50 or less in PA is because they can. If the PA wage was the same as New Jersey, the only thing that would change is the paycheck of the workers. Nothing else. Not the staffing of the business or the prices.
Taken in context, the CEO of McDonalds makes $6500.00 per HOUR. He was recently FIRED for having sex with an employee. He will get between 45 to 90 MILLION DOLLARS in severance. The same people that have no problem with that, have a big problem raising the minimum wage by more than $2.00/hr.
Pennsylvania is behind West Virginia. In fact every neighboring state makes this state look like a regressive joke,. Even Arkansas pays inmates $9.50/hr to pick up garbage. Many of the studies that will be cited for keeping the wage low were bought and paid for by special interest groups to drive home their own adgenda. Will some businesses close if the wage goes up? Yes. Those were poorly run and not real businesses. They existed as vanity projects for owners. The jobs are cyclical and rotate quickly. The same staff at the movie theater today will be different in two months.
Most low wage jobs in PA pay $9.00/hr or less. They attract workers by legitimately touting their pay is more than the minimum wage. If the raise was raised to say $9.00/hr very few people would benefit. Their pay might go up a few pennies. In 2009 the Federal Minimum Wage was raised to $7.25/hr. Prices have risen in spite of workers pay not going up one penny. The argument that prices will go up holds no water. Even if they did, the increase would be negligible.
Once thing is for certain, raising the wage will put money into workers pockets. That will also help cut off state benefits which can be used for other things. Not all republicans are against raising the wage. Many are in favor of it. Once this is voted out of the Labor and Industry Committee ( which it should) it must go before the full senate, for a vote. It should pass the senate with ease. It then goes to the house. They have until December of 2020 to act on it. .”I cannot see this sitting here for that long. Our members are committed to doing what is in the best interest of their constituents,” Mike Staub Spokesperson for the House Republican Caucus said. He went on to say that “We don’t want to focus on minimum wage jobs. we want to focus on job training to raise people up from a minimum wage position.”.
There will always be a need for service workers and those workers are a burden on the system with the minimum wage stuck at $7.25/hr.