By Howard Greninger
The Tribune-Star (IN), July 24, 2014
Praise, ire surround push to raise low rung for worker compensation
TERRE HAUTE — Thursday marked the fifth anniversary since the federal minimum wage was increased, a wage U.S. Secretary of Labor Thomas E. Perez contends should again be raised. ... “It’s been exactly five years since workers at the bottom of the income ladder have gotten a raise. Since then, the cost of a gallon of milk, a week of child care, a month’s rent and everything else a working family needs has gone up” ...
Wage advocates, such as Business for a Fair Minimum Wage, contend the raise would benefit small businesses. In a June poll, commissioned by the organization, 61 percent of small business employers support increasing the wage in three stages over a 21⁄2 year period, then adjusting it annually to keep pace with the cost of living.
The poll stated 58 percent of employers say that raising the minimum wage would increase consumer purchasing power, with 53 percent saying it would lower employee turnover and increase productivity and customer satisfaction.
A statement signed by more than 600 economists, published in January by the Economic Policy Institute, stated that research now shows “that increases in the minimum wage have had little or no negative effect on the employment of minimum-wage workers, even during times of weakness in the labor market. Research suggests that a minimum-wage increase could have a small stimulative effect on the economy as low-wage workers spend their additional earnings, raising demand and job growth, and providing some help on the jobs front.” ...
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