By Randy Ludlow
The Columbus Dispatch, Feb 19, 2014
... [Secretary of Labor Thomas] Perez appeared yesterday with Rep. Joyce Beatty, D-Columbus, and Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, to support legislation to increase the federal minimum wage from $7.25 to $10.10 an hour over three years. Ohio’s minimum wage, set higher than the federal standard because of a 2006 ballot initiative, is $7.95 an hour, with tipped workers entitled to $3.98 an hour. ...
The federal officials spoke with reporters at Brothers Drake Meadery & Bar on E. 5th Avenue, where the owners pay their wait and bartending staff in excess of the minimum wage — an average of $20 an hour with tips. ...
Eric Allen, general manager of the Columbus meadery — one of only two in Ohio that produce the honey-based alcoholic beverage — said paying his 15 employees a decent wage helps ensure their work ethic and reduces job turnover.
“We don’t see it as a burden to provide a living wage — it’s a responsibility,” he said. ...