By Dennis Sadowski
Catholic News Service, 6/19/2014

America: The National Catholic Review, Boston Pilot, Catholic Philly.com, Catholic Sentinel, Catholic Courier, The Message, more

WASHINGTON (CNS) -- While Congress has stalled on adopting an increase in the federal minimum wage, steps are being taken across the country to boost the income of low-wage workers. From Massachusetts and Vermont to Seattle and San Francisco, state legislators and city councils have either acted on or are negotiating minimum wage hikes. ...

Meanwhile, a new report from Oxfam America called for Congress to end the gridlock...

Hourly wage would be highest in nation if signed by Governor Deval Patrick

By Ron Ruggless
Nation's Restaurant News, June 18, 2014

The Massachusetts House of Representatives passed a bill Wednesday that would raise the state’s $8 hourly minimum wage to $11 per hour by 2017. After brief debate, the House of Representatives approved the measure 124-24, following the Senate vote that approved the hike last week 35-4. The bill goes back to both chambers for a procedural vote before heading to Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick’s desk. ...

Holly Sklar, director of Boston-based Business for a Fair...

Fitchburg Sentinel & Enterprise, 06/16/14

... "Massachusetts led the nation passing the first state minimum wage a century ago in June 1912, and with passage of an $11 state minimum wage ... will be leading the nation again with a wage floor that is good for business, good for customers and good for our economy."

- Holly Sklar, director of Business for a Fair Minimum Wage.

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By Bob Katzen
Somerville News Weekly, June 14, 2014, Beacon Hill Roll Call Volume 39 -Report No. 24 June 9-13, 2014

... QUOTABLE QUOTES ...

“Massachusetts led the nation passing the first state minimum wage a century ago in June 1912, and with passage of an $11 state minimum wage … will be leading the nation again with a wage floor that is good for business, good for customers and good for our economy.”

Holly Sklar, Director of Business for a Fair Minimum Wage.

Read more

Copyright 2014 Beacon Hill Roll Call

By Jessica Leber Fast Company, June 13, 2014

One in five workers would benefit from a higher minimum wage - but businesses could also see a boost

What is it like to live on minimum wage in America? It’s never been fun, but it’s getting harder and harder as costs of living rise around the nation. ... Oxfam’s breakdown by Congressional district show that, on average, one in five workers would benefit from an increased minimum wage, or 25 million people--nearly 14 million of whom are women. ...

RAISING MINIMUM WAGE IS ACTUALLY GOOD FOR BUSINESSES...

By Jordan Graham and Matt Stout
Boston Herald, June 13, 2014

Top House and Senate negotiators struck a deal Wednesday to raise the current $8 per hour minimum wage to $11 per hour by 2017, and the Senate quickly passed it yesterday on a 35-4 vote. The bill does not include a Senate proposal that would have tied the hike to inflation. And it goes beyond a House proposal for a $10.50 per hour wage, without automatic increases for inflation. The House is expected to vote on the compromise bill next week. ...

Business for a...

By Morgan Rousseau
Metro, June 12, 2014

... The Massachusetts Senate voted 35-4 Thursday to pass legislation that will raise the minimum wage in three increments from $8 an hour to $11 an hour. The hourly minimum wage would go to $9 on Jan. 1, 2015, to $10 the following new year, and finally to $11 on Jan. 1, 2017. The measure does not include a provision for future annual increases to keep up with inflation.

Massachusetts members of Business for a Fair Minimum Wage, a Boston-based network of business owners and executives, commended the hike, which many...

By Sarah Max
New York Times, June 11, 2014

In 2002, Sherry Stewart Deutschmann quit her six-figure sales job at a Nashville company, cashed in her 401(k) and started a competing business. ... Ms. Deutschmann believed she could build a better company by building a better company culture. If employees had more reason to care, she believed, it would translate to better performance.

Her business, LetterLogic, specializes in printing and mailing statements, invoices and letters, including personal Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, or Hipaa, information. Today it has $30 million in annual revenue and no...

Op-Ed By David Bolotsky
New York Daily News, June 9, 2014

Small business owners like myself across New York have something to cheer about following Gov. Cuomo’s recent pledge to raise the minimum wage to $10.10, index it to inflation, and allow localities to set their wage floors above the state level.

Raising the minimum wage is really a matter of fairness for small business owners, who overwhelmingly pay above the minimum wage already, yet are forced to compete with large out-of-state corporations that choose to pay rock-bottom wages while making billions in profits each...

By Bob Bestler
Myrtle Beach Sun News, May 30, 2014

... I seldom enter Myrtle Beach, for golf or otherwise, without stopping at Costco to get one thing or another, from jars of olives for my martinis to boxes of Keurig coffee or a heavily discounted best-selling book. ...

In a job satisfaction survey by the job site Glassdoor, Costco ranked second only to Google in employee satisfaction, ahead of such multi-billion-dollar high-tech giants as Facebook, Monsanto and Verizon.

Costco CEO Craig Jelineck supports legislation raising the federal minimum wage from its current $7.25 an hour...

By Dana Blakenhorn
The Street, May 29, 2014

Costco's secret is that it continues to profit even though it pays wages that satisfy its employees. More proof came in the latest Glassdoor survey. Its list of the 25 best companies based on compensation listed Google at No. 1 and Facebook at No. 3. Costco was No. 2 and was the only retailer on the list. That doesn't mean Costco pays as much as Google. The results are based on surveys of employees. It means Costco employees are nearly as satisfied with their treatment as those at Google...

By Tyler Falk
Smart Planet, May 28, 2014

A recent survey of companies with the top employee compensation and benefits was littered with tech companies, with one notable exception. Sandwiched between the Google and Facebook at the top of the list, based on employee reviews, was a company from an industry not known for good pay and perks. The industry: retail. The company that's more than bucking the low-pay trend: Costco.

Just take a look at hourly wages of some of the lowest paid workers at major retailers and you get a sense for how...

By Heesun Wee
CNBC, May 21, 2014

The national debate over whether to raise minimum wages has stirred interest in where American companies stand on the issue. That curiosity perhaps is most intensely targeted at feel-good companies, which pride themselves on progressive practices. Do those companies match their upbeat branding with living wages?

Whether it's because wages underscore values or boost staff retention and productivity, more big companies are dipping into the wage debate. Farmer-friendly Chipotle Mexican Grill says a hike to $10 an hour could be absorbed. Starbucks, committed to greener stores and ethical...

By Eric Morath
Wall Street Journal, May 20, 2014

Stymied by Congress on their minimum-wage push, low-wage workers and even Obama administration officials are pleading for U.S. companies to raise wages voluntarily. ... Pesident Barack Obama is singling out companies—from retailer Gap Inc. to Punch Neapolitan Pizza, a tiny Minnesota pizza joint—that committed to paying workers more than the federal minimum wage of $7.25 an hour. …  Earlier this year, Mr. Obama visited a Maryland Costco store to highlight the retailer's starting wage of $11.50 an hour. ...

Gina Schaefer, the owner of nine Ace...

By Brian England
Policy Points, Triple Pundit, May 14, 2014

Recently I was asked, “Why do you support raising the minimum wage – aren’t all business people against it?” As a small business owner I care about running a profitable business. That means I also care about the local economy my business depends on. And most importantly, I understand that economies boom when more money is in the hands of those most likely to spend it — from the lowest-income earners buying essentials to a growing middle class with more disposable income.

Today’s eroded $7.25...