House Votes To Raise PA Minimum Wage
by Alex Lloyd Gross
This week the Pennsylvania House Of Representatives voted to raise the state minimum wage to $15,00/hr. That bill is expected to be signed into law by Governor Josh Shapiro, as soon as senate republicans sign off on it. That means it could take a week or next year, or not until some members of the senate are voted out of office. The house vote was bipartisan.
Minimum wage is still only $7.25/hr in PA. Opponants to raising the wage throw everything but the kitchen sink at republicans, to keep the wage low. All of it is hyperbole proved ficticious by other states that have raised their wages to $15.00/hr. Still, they fall for it every year.
“It hurts businesses”- False. Across the river in New Jersey new businesses are opening every day. Some businesses close while others open. Just like it did in 1776. While the cost of labor is expensive, a business cannot afford to pay their employees a low wage and have them be disgruntled. That leads to poor customer service, theft, call outs and job hopping. The minimum wage is $15.78 in New Jersey.
“It will cost workers their jobs”. On a recent trip to Washington DC a comparison was made in a Wendy’s. vs Philly. The DC store had one more person on staff that the Philly store which paid less.
“Prices will increase” Have prices increased in PA since 2009? Yes. The ballyhooed cry of raised prices in unfounded when prices went up steadily, yet wages remained stagnant.
“Most businesses pay $15,00 anyway”, This is somewhat true. Some places have raised pay on their own especially when they have employees that can work in the same store just across the river. Why unload trucks in Philly for $9.50 /hr when Jersey stores pay over $15.00?hr. A good number of businesses still pay less. Not small businesses. Behemoth Aramark pays workers less than $15.00 in some locations for some jobs, while the company rakes in literally billions of dollars.
A small group of lawmakers, who are the highest paid in the United States consistently decide that raising the minimum wage is the wrong thing to do. As these state senators get a hefty cost of living increase every year, they leave hundreds of thousands of workers in PA struggling to live paycheck to paycheck.