December 9, 2021

New Year, Higher Wage Hikes

As is the case every year, the holiday season brings news of states and other localities announcing their minimum wage rates for the coming year. While higher wages in theory sound like a holiday gift, the employment loss they bring with them is less than festive. View a full list…
December 3, 2021

Will a $15 wage mandate actually help federal contractors’ employees?

Last week, the US Department of Labor finalized a rule to mandate a $15 hourly minimum wage for all federal contractors, stemming from President Biden’s executive order issued earlier this year. After the failed attempt to enact the Raise the Wage Act which would have required a $15 minimum wage…
November 19, 2021

Newsflash: Minimum Wage Hikes Can Contribute to Inflation

As inflation has reached historical levels, lawmakers and analysts are grappling with the causes, including the shocks from the pandemic, both related to government-imposed restrictions and shifts in consumer demand. This week on Twitter, one New York Times writer said the recent media headlines concerned about inflation are just…
November 12, 2021

Why do tipped restaurant employees support the current tip credit system?

One Fair Wage, a nonprofit affiliate of the radical Restaurant Opportunities Center, has been on a mission to end the tip credit in states across the country. Over the last several weeks, One Fair Wage president Saru Jayaraman has been trying to export this movement to New York,…
November 4, 2021

Biden DOL Nominee’s Study Finds Amazon’s Wage Hikes Caused Significant Job Loss

A new study finds recent large minimum wage hikes from companies like Amazon, Walmart, Target, CVS, and Costco have had significant negative consequences for employees in geographical “commuting zones” surrounding these large employers. This conclusion comes from a rather surprising source: a set of generally pro-minimum wage hike advocates…
Pennsylvania October 28, 2021

Gov’s $15 Wage Order Could Raise PA’s Pandemic Job Loss Toll by 45%

Pennsylvania Governor Tom Wolf has repeatedly called to raise the state’s minimum wage – every year for the last seven years. Yet bills proposing minimum wage increases have continually failed in the state legislature. The most recent bill, which would have raised the state’s minimum from the current federal hourly…
October 22, 2021

Not Just Big Corporations: Local Govts Up the Ante on Minimum Wage

The “Fight for $15” was started by the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) as a way to boost union membership back in 2012. While the $15 number has become a popular target, the SEIU admittedly picked it because it sounded good, not because it has any significance or economic…
October 15, 2021

The Big Minimum Wage Lie Invoked in This Year’s Nobel Prize

Pro-hike interest groups have propped up one study over the decades to make their case for ever-higher increases to the minimum wage – and economists have continually debunked it. Yet incredibly, the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences chose author David Card to receive the Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences…
Virginia October 8, 2021

Virginia Gov-Hopeful’s Aggressive Minimum Wage Plan Would Magnify State Job Losses

As the Virginia race for governor heats up, Democratic candidate and former Governor Terry McAuliffe is doubling down on his platform to speed up the path to hit a $15 per hour state minimum wage. The state has already enacted a path to $12 per hour, with potential to reach…
October 1, 2021

Bolstering Wages With Earned Income Tax Credits, Not Minimum Wage, Can Help Solve Hiring Crisis

After Sen. Bernie Sanders introduced his bill to raise the federal minimum wage to $15 earlier this year, the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office projected the legislation could cost up to 2.7 million jobs nationwide. Raising the minimum wage would create a costly tradeoff – some would get a pay…