By Eric Morath
Wall Street Journal, April 2, 2014
For lunch Wednesday, President Barack Obama munched on a reuben sandwich that would require shelling out the equivalent of two hours of work at the federal minimum wage of $7.25. The president used the stop at the Zingerman’s Delicatessen in Ann Arbor, Mich., to stump for raising the minimum wage to $10.10 an hour. At that increased rate, a minimum wage worker could buy the same reuben ... with 88 minutes worth of earnings. ...
Mr. Obama likely stopped at the popular deli just north of the University of Michigan because owner Paul Saginaw is among a group of business leaders who have been vocal supporters of increasing the minimum wage.
“Zingerman’s is a business that treats its workers well, and rewards honest work with honest wages,” Mr. Obama said in a post-lunch speech. ...
Mr. Saginaw said paying entry wages that “employees can live on” has been important to his company’s success.
“Raising the minimum wage would boost our communities and our economy,” he said. ...
Copyright 2014 Wall Street Journal