Op-Ed by Thomas E. Perez
Los Angeles Daily News, Aug 14, 2014

... Today, on the first stop of a five-city tour in advance of Labor Day, I’m coming to Los Angeles to have a conversation with local business, labor and civic leaders at the Los Angeles Area Chamber of Commerce. ... My message in Los Angeles and at other stops across the country is simple: we’re all in this together. To continue our economic recovery, we have to put down our pre-determined talking points, identify common ground and get to work.

Here’s a great example...

American Coin-Op, July 31, 2014

... Business for a Fair Minimum Wage, a national network of business owners and executives who believe a “fair minimum wage makes good business sense,” published the results of its “scientific national opinion poll” indicating that 61% of small-business employers support increasing the federal minimum wage to $10.10 in “three stages over two-and-a-half years,” adjusting it annually to keep pace with the cost of living.

“Small-business support for raising the federal minimum wage is strong across the country. Employers favor raising the minimum wage to $10.10 by a 67% majority in...

By Diane Stafford
Kansas City Star, July 27, 2014; updated July 29, 2014

... At the NAACP convention last week in Las Vegas ... In a unanimous resolution, amid calls for “economic justice,” the organization backed raising the federal minimum wage. Since 2009, it’s been $7.25 an hour. For a growing chorus of voices, higher pay has become a civil rights issue. They argue that workers, especially on full-time hours, should be paid a “living wage” — enough to cover basic housing, food, fuel and clothing expenses — and minimum wage’s $15,000 a year doesn’t cut it...

After five years without an increase in the federal minimum wage, even Mary Poppins can't make enough to stay working for those adorable kids.

By Gabrielle Levy
UPI (United Press International), July 24, 2014

WASHINGTON, July 24 (UPI) --Five years to the day since the last increase in the federal minimum wage, Democrats are renewing a call to bring the minimum up to $10.10 an hour. In a speech in Los Angeles Thursday, President Obama drew attention to the anniversary, and in Washington, Sens. Tom Harkin of Iowa and Al Franken of Minnesota, and Rep. George Miller...

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...

By Alain Sherter
CBS Money Watch, July 24, 2014

... Although the minimum wage has risen to $7.25 over the ensuing years (tipped workers typically earn much less), the purchasing power of employees earning that baseline level pay has steadily shrunk because it isn't rising along with inflation. In fact, minimum-wage workers earn less today in real dollars than they did more than 50 years ago. In financial terms, they have effectively defied the laws of physics and traveled backward in time.

Today marks the five-year anniversary since the federal minimum was last raised, from...

Latin Business Today, July 24, 2014

WASHINGTON, July 24 (UPI) — Five years to the day since the last increase in the federal minimum wage, Democrats are renewing a call to bring the minimum up to $10.10 an hour. ... Harkin, chair of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, said more than 60 percent of small-business owners in the country polled said they support raising the minimum wage. Business owners understand that the people who would benefit are their customers, he said, and putting more money in their hands means better sales and...

By Jeremy Allen
MLive, July 24, 2014

The Obama Administration isn't above using social media to try to persuade Republicans in Congress to cast a unified vote with the Democrats in order to raise the federal minimum wage.
Thursday afternoon, the official Instagram page for the White House posted a photo of President Barack Obama's April 2, 2014 trip to Ann Arbor and Zingerman's Delicatessen with the following message: "It's time for Republicans in Congress to join Democrats and raise the minimum wage because nobody who works full-time should live in poverty. #1010Now #RaiseTheWage"

The post comes...

By Jeremy Allen
Michigan Live, July 22, 2014

Paul Saginaw's advocacy for increased wages has earned him a trip to the White House. The Zingerman's co-owner will be honored today in Washington, D.C., with other business owners across the country as they receive Raise the Wage Champions for Change awards.

The awards will be presented to nine activists, advocates and business owners who the Obama administration says have taken action to raise wages for working men and women around the country. ...

President Obama made a visit to Zingerman's Delicatessen during his April trip to Ann...

Associated Press (AP), July 22, 2014

The White House has honored an Ann Arbor businessman with a Champions of Change award. Paul Saginaw is among those who were recognized at a ceremony on Tuesday in the nation’s capital.

He’s the co-founder of the Zingerman’s community of businesses. During a visit to Ann Arbor in April, President Barack Obama praised Saginaw for paying his restaurant workers above minimum wage. ...

Saginaw participated in the ceremony and then took part in a round table discussion Tuesday.

Read more

In many papers, including for example

Crain's Detroit Business

Detroit...

CBS St. Louis/KMOX, July 22, 2014

WASHINGTON (KMOX) - The driving force behind Vintage Vinyl’s success on the Delmar Loop will be recognized in Washington D.C.

The White House says Lew Prince will be honored today as one of America’s “Champions of Change.”

Prince, co-founder and co-owner of the iconic St. Louis record store, is being saluted by President Obama for his efforts to raise the minimum wage.

Prince is also a longtime spokesperson for Business for a Fair Minimum Wage, a network of business owners and executives advocating for the business advantages of a...

By Freddie Allen, NNPA Washington Correspondent
Black Press USA, National Newspaper Publishers Association (NNPA) News Wire, July 22, 2014. Also in Tennessee Tribune, New Pittsburgh Courier, Indianapolis Recorder, Louisiana Weekly, more

WASHINGTON (NNPA) – More than 60 percent of small business owners with employees favor increasing the federal minimum wage from $7.25 to $10.10 in three stages, according to a new survey.

The poll, sponsored by the American Sustainable Business Council, an advocacy group that represents more than 200,000 businesses and Business for a Fair Minimum Wage, described on the group’s website as “a national network of business owners...

Fox2 News St. Louis, July 21, 2014

WASHINGTON, D.C. (KTVI) – A longtime loop business owner will be recognized at the White House Tuesday. Lew Prince, co-owner of Vintage Vinyl, is being honored for his work to raise awareness about increasing the minimum wage.

Prince says with a few exceptions, his employees have always earned more than the minimum wage.

He’ll be participating in panel discussions with other business owners on raising the minimum wage while in Washington, D.C.

See more

By Joel Connelly
Seattle Post Intelligencer, July 21, 2014

President Obama can’t get House Republicans to move on hiking the minimum wage, but he is honoring as “Champions of Change” a bevy of American activists who have fought for economic justice at the state and local level. ...

The White House is also honoring a prince of an employer. He is Lew Prince, co-owner of Vintage Vinyl in St. Louis, who is [a] leader of a group called Business for a Fair Minimum Wage.  He has traveled from Springfield to Washington, D.C., arguing for a higher...