Initiative 77, a Washington DC initiative that was passed by voters in the Nation’s Capital back in June is again back before the DC City Council, where a majority of members oppose the measure. City Councilors are now seriously considering repealing the measure and the city council’s Committee on the Whole will hold a public…
Read More »The surprise is not that the minimum wage for state workers in North Carolina is increasing to $15 per hour, rather that the Republican legislature overrode a Democratic gubernatorial veto to make it happen. The generally-reliable red state of North Carolina seemed to flip roles recently when democratic Governor Roy Cooper vetoed an Omnibus Spending…
Read More »Speaking of Massachusetts, governor Charlie Baker yesterday signed into law the so-called Grand Bargain compromise that avoids a couple of contentious issues from appearing on the November ballot. The legislation, negotiated over the past several weeks between advocates and some business groups, provides for an increase in the current $11 per hour minimum wage to…
Read More »The drumbeat continues to ring out across the country with efforts ongoing to raise the minimum wage to higher levels by whatever means necessary with some, but fortunately not all of those efforts succeeding. First on the negative side of the ledger, “Raise Up Missouri” has submitted 120,000 signatures in support of a November ballot…
Read More »It would appear that legislative proposals governing tipped wages are becoming more commonplace, and more restrictive. As we know, the Omnibus Spending Bill signed into law a week ago by the President contained a compromise provision that specifically prohibits employers from taking money from the tips left for their workers. Further, that provision also seems…
Read More »Just outside DC, the Montgomery County Council’s Health and Human Services Committee voted Monday to delay implementation of a minimum wage increase from the current $11.50 to $15 an hour. In January, the Council approved legislation that raised the hourly minimum to $15 minimum by 2020 for most businesses and by 2022 for businesses with…
Read More »There continues to be much debate around the country about the wisdom of increasing minimum wages and how big an increase can be before it becomes detrimental to the local economy and the very workers the increase is supposed to help. Well, two recent studies of the impact on Seattle employees of the Seattle minimum…
Read More »Yes, there is an international angle regarding minimum wage mandates that we want to get to, but let’s update American issues first. At the federal level, the National Urban League, which is an advocacy organization for urban communities across the country, released its annual State of Black America Report earlier this week. The report, which…
Read More »Apparently hell-bent to put small businesses out of business, the Seattle City Council, with the encouragement of Mayor Ed Murray, unanimously adopted a secured scheduling ordinance earlier this week that will become effective on July 1, 2017. The ordinance requires that workers get a minimum two-week advance notice of their work schedules and further provides…
Read More »The Minnesota Supreme Court rejected the arguments of wage-hike activists and ruled earlier this month that the Minneapolis City Council was entitled to keep a $15 minimum wage question off the city’s ballot. The Council voted earlier this summer not to place the question on November’s ballot after the Minneapolis City Attorney issued an opinion…
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