By Tom Post
Forbes, April 24, 2013

See published comments below by Business for a Fair Minimum Wage members

Two completely unrelated pieces of news hit me this morning and made me wonder about how we treat employees.

The first was the report of another horrific industrial accident in Bangladesh — nearly 200 people left dead in the collapse of an eight-story building where a number of garment factories operate. ...

The second piece of news was a poll by the Small Business Majority that landed in my inbox, claiming that better than two-thirds of the 500 entrepreneurs surveyed from across the country support a bump in the $7.25/hour minimum wage and believe in annual cost-of-living adjustments. More surprising yet: Most respondents identified themselves as leaning Republican (46%); 35% skewed Democratic, and 11% Independent. Nearly 9 in 10 of those answering the survey say they already pay their employees more than the minimum wage — across virtually all types of businesses. 

Why? Two main reasons, according to the survey. One, a conviction that paying workers more helps the economy by increasing disposable income and driving demand for more goods and services offered by small businesses. Two, that higher wages help ease demand for taxpayer-supported entitlement programs. ... 

Such reasoning doesn’t sit well with my friends over at the National Federation of Independent Business, a group that represents 350,000 entrepreneurs, and is opposed to raising the minimum wage. “We’re hearing from our members that they want more flexibility to structure the workforce as they need to,” says Holly Wade, NFIB’S senior policy analyst. ...

So who’s right? I’d like to hear from you. Considering what’s driving the renewed interest in immigration reform — attracting and keeping talent, a challenge confronting all entrepreneurs  – the minimum wage wrangle is likely to get louder and louder.

COMMENTS from Business for a Fair Minimum Wage Members Include:

Jon Cooper, Spectronics Corporation:
As a small business owner who runs a manufacturing company with 150 employees, I feel strongly that increasing the minimum wage is a good idea. It will provide concrete benefits to small businesses and will stimulate our overall economy.

More than 70 percent of our nation’s economy is driven by consumer spending, and the single biggest problem being faced by small businesses today is weak consumer demand. A great way to spur economic growth is to jump-start consumer spending.

Increasing the minimum wage will allow low-wage workers to buy food, clothing and other essentials for their families, and most of the money they spend will go right back into local businesses. This will provide a much-needed stimulus to small businesses, many of which continue to struggle during the slow recovery.

Another benefit to businesses from increasing the minimum wage is that higher pay for entry-level positions will result in lower employee turnover. This will lead to lower costs for hiring and training new employees. In addition, higher wages have historically been found to result in increased worker productivity. The bottom line is that all of these benefits will lead to reduced overhead costs for business owners in the long run.

In addition, companies that pay their workers minimum wage are in effect being subsidized by taxpayers. This is because these employees are far more likely to turn to government-funded assistance programs, such as Medicaid and food stamps. That’s simply not fair.

Brian England:
I own an auto service and repair shop and have 18 employees, I have found that providing benefits and a wage someone can live on makes business sense for the following reasons. (Other than it’s the right thing to do)

1. Employee retention, customers get to know our employees and that nurtures trust.

2. Happy employees

3. Healthy employees have less sick days.

4. More productive

5. Provide better customer service.


The NFIB always seems to be on the wrong side of so many issues. They also get it wrong time after time, the major one was when they predicted health care insurance costs going up after the ACA passed, instead of 15-20% increases our rates went down 6% (same policy and same average age). We should all be working to raise everyone up not squeezing those on the low end who can least afford it.

Melanie Beam, President, Capital District Local First (NY):
Many independent businesses already pay higher than minimum wage, because they are accountable to their employees and communities. One of the big hurdles these businesses face is the fact that large corporate businesses are able to keep consumer prices low at the cost of employee wages and benefits. Raising the minimum wage will help even the playing field for these businesses as well as increase their sales. Minimum wage workers will not put their additional earnings into 401ks on Wall Street; they will inject this money into Main Street, stimulating the local economy. Areas with more locally owned businesses results in higher per capita income, more jobs, and more resiliency, as noted in the 2011 study “Does Local Ownership Matter.”

Local ownership and Minimum Wage certainly matter if we want to take control of our economy.

David Bolotsky:
I founded the online retailer UncommonGoods.com in 1999 and we employ a number of workers in warehouse and customer service positions. I believe the minimum wage needs to be indexed to inflation and is long overdue for an increase. One point that a number of people miss is that employers paying the minimum wage are effectively government-subsidized (aka taxpayer subsidized). Because of their low wages, their employees are eligible for food stamps, Medicaid, housing assistance and other forms of government support. I would also like to see the minimum wage tied to cost of living within a region of a state. New York City has less in common with some rural communities within New York State than it does with Miami, for example.

Jim Wellehan:
My company runs six retail family shoe stores (Lamey-Wellehan, which my Dad started in 1914.) in Maine. We pay all of our people more than minimum wage, and have for years. Good incentives and rewards bring good performance. As we look at poverty and homelessness in our communities, clearly the American promise is to have a job that pays considerably above minimum. If we want a great society, with great schools for great children, we will work to strongly reduce income inequality, and make sure that our working people have the means and time to bring their children up well. I have been approached by the NFIB, and found their perspective extremely un-American dream.

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