Business For a Fair Minimum Wage

North Fulton Times, 7/24/07

July 20, 2007, Georgia – On July 24, for the first time in ten years, the federal minimum wage will go up – marking the end of the longest period without a raise since the minimum wage was enacted in 1938. Many Georgia workers will get a raise from $5.15 to $5.85 next week. Contrary to conventional wisdom, many businesses are cheering the raise.

Minimum Wage Increases Today
Investment Daily News, 7/24/07

Obstructionist Republicans wouldn’t allow it to come to a vote under the last Congress, but the Democrats made sure they made it a priority when they took office earlier this year.

By Stephanie Armour
USA Today, 7/23/07

A new federal minimum wage will go into effect Tuesday, the first in a series of wage increases heralded by some low-income advocates but criticized by business leaders as a potential financial blow.

The minimum wage that takes effect today will boost pay for covered, non-exempt employees to $5.85 an hour from $5.15. The next jump will occur on July 24, 2008, to $6.55 an hour, and then to $7.25 an hour effective July 24, 2009.

The last wage increase was a two-step increase in 1996 and 1997.

By Isaiah J. Poole
TomPaine.com, 7/23/07

With all of the talk about the conservative obstructionism in Congress that is keeping important bills from becoming law, Tuesday brings something worth celebrating: The federal minimum wage, which had been frozen at $5.15 an hour for almost 10 years, increases 70 cents an hour, to $5.85 cents an hour.

By Kris Maher
Wall Street Journal, 7/21/07

On Tuesday, about two million workers will get a raise, as the first increase in the federal minimum wage since 1997 takes effect.

But for all the handwringing about how raising the federal minimum wage would hurt employers and boost inflation, this week's initial wage increase to $5.85 an hour is expected to have little impact on the economy. The price of a cheese pizza might rise, but that could be blamed on higher dairy and gasoline prices, as well as higher pay for cooks and cashiers.

New Orleans City Business, 7/20/07

METAIRIE - Seven Louisiana business people have signed a nationwide statement in support of the higher federal minimum wage, which takes effect Tuesday.

Business for a Fair Minimum Wage, a project of Boston-based Business for Shared Prosperity, is collecting signatures from businesses across the country in support of the higher minimum wage at www.businessforafairminimumwage.org.

The Louisiana signatures are from:

- Evelyn Cathey, Mandeville, president of Creations Galore.

- Donna Cleary, Baton Rouge, owner and CEO of Cleary Enterprises.

KAKE-TV 10, ABC, Wichita, 7/20/07

Kansas – On July 24, for the first time in ten years, the federal minimum wage will go up – marking the end of the longest period without a raise since the minimum wage was enacted in 1938.

Kansas workers covered under the federal law will get a raise from $5.15 to $5.85 next week. Contrary to conventional wisdom, many businesses are cheering the raise.

Minimum Wages: How Does Your State Stack Up?
By Brad Kenney, IT Editor
Industry Week, 7/20/07

According to a recent study by HR information and software provider CCH, workers in most states will not be affected by the upcoming increase in the federal minimum wage to $5.85.

That's because 32 states and the District of Columbia have minimum wages higher than the new federal level.

WIBW TV 13 Kansas
7/20/07

On July 24, for the first time in ten years, the federal minimum wage will go up – marking the end of the longest period without a raise since the minimum wage was enacted in 1938.

Kansas workers covered under the federal law will get a raise from $5.15 to $5.85 next week. Contrary to conventional wisdom, many businesses are cheering the raise.

Common Good Network
7/20/07

This week The Common Good Network interviewed Holly Sklar, author of Raise the Floor and A Just Minimum Wage: Good for Workers, Business and Our Future. Holly is a consultant with the Let Justice Roll Living Wage Campaign, of which Protestants for the Common Good is an active member. PCG Deputy Director Rev. Jennifer Kottler serves on the Executive Committee of the Steering Committee of this campaign.

CGN: It seems like the increase in the minimum wage is big news. Why is that?