Philip Walzer
The Virginian-Pilot
©
Today, the federal minimum wage goes up to $7.25 an hour. That comes out to a bit more than 12 cents a minute - or $15,080 a year.
It is the last of three annual 70-cent-an-hour boosts in the minimum wage approved in 2007.
Today's increase equates to $1,456 a year.
About 2.2 million people, or 3 percent of the nation's hourly workers,most of them women, earn the minimum wage or less, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Brianna Kelley, 16, of Virginia Beach said she makes less than $7 an hour at Bruster's ice cream shop on Atlantic Avenue. So she's expecting a raise. "I'm happy about it because it's my first job," she said Thursday.
But most local employers who were interviewed predicted minimal effect.
"We have traditionally been paying higher than minimum wage," starting no lower than $7.50 an hour, said Brian Bonfiglio, who owns the franchise for a 7-Eleven store on Great Neck Road.
The lowest rate the city of Virginia Beach pays is $7.25 an hour, for part- or full-time work in such jobs as basketball scorer and park aide, said spokeswoman Carissa Frasca Cutrell. The starting salary for a lifeguard is $8.64 an hour, she said.
Debbie Hollobaugh, co-owner of 15th Street Raw Bar & Grill, said the increase will affect only one employee each day - the dishwasher.
"I'm not opposed to it; people have got to make a living," said Verne Burlage, president of Quality Inn & Suites Oceanfront on Atlantic Avenue and of the Virginia Beach Hotel-Motel Association.
Burlage said his rates bottom out at $7.50 an hour, with those workers getting a bump to $8 after two weeks. He said, though, that to compete with the increase in the minimum wage, he might have to raise his pay scale later.
Minimum-wage hikes, along with factors such as increased taxes, have forced job cuts at Ocean Food Mart on Atlantic Avenue, said Bobby Patel, its owner. Eight years ago, Patel said, he had eight employees. Now he employs only his father and another relative.
Some economists worry that plenty more owners, already strapped with declining incomes, will lay off low-paid help rather than pay the raises.
"Unfortunately, this is bad timing for the economy," said Peter Shaw, a business professor at Tidewater Community College.
The increase "penalizes employers for hiring workers who are kind of marginal in terms of expected productivity," said James Koch, an economist at Old Dominion University.
U.S. Labor Secretary Hilda Solis, in a conference call with reporters Thursday, said there's scant evidence the minimum-wage increase will lead to significant job loss. She cited an estimate from the Economic Policy Institute, a Washington research group, that it will generate $5.5 billion in consumer spending over the next year.
"This is not only good for workers, it's good for our economy," Solis said.
Philip Walzer, (757) 222-3864, phil.walzer@pilotonline.com
Patrick Wilson, (757) 446-2957, patrick.wilson@pilotonline.com
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Most people see raising the
Most people see raising the min. wage as a good thing, but miss the impact upon themselves.
I am a small business owner, but chose to not have any employees because of the BS involved. The min wage increases the amount that one must pay out to their employees, in turn increases the price they must charge for their goods. Higher prices = lower sales and lower income to pay these higher paid employees. That means that they cannot afford to pay the employee and must lay them off. Layoff = NO JOB, no income.
Min wage should not be looked at as a raise. A raise is given to a person that their increased production ability adds income to the company. Min wage is not a living wage, it is a wage the govt says we must pay people that do not want to help increase productivity/profits which in turn can increase their salary.
Why not $10.00 an hour?
For those of you who thinks that the min. wage will hurt businesses, ask yourself this question. Did it hurt the companies that give annual cost of living increases? Did you complain about the military, retirees, and social security annual COLA raises? Why should they get increases? I am a veteran and I welcome these increases each year. It is true that some companies will be hurt in the process of giving raises; nonetheless, everyone should earn a decent wage for a decent day's work. Minimum wage workers are some of the hardest working people out there and it is a slap in the face to tell them that thier wage is low because they do not work hard or do not have the desire to strive for more. Many companies offer low wages to start and rarely give raises. I know one particular company whereas a lady with 35 years on the job barely makes more than minimum wage. She is a hard worker according to co-workers but the company doesn't recognize her efforts and dedication with a salary reflective of her contributions to the company's bottom line. I also believe in free-market in the sense that if you can't afford to pay someone an honest salary, you shouldn't be in business in the first pla
$7.25 / hr. What a JOKE!
Are you kidding me? Nobody can live on $7.25/hr. Why are we supposed to feel sympathy for Employers who have to pay it? If Employers want a business...they have to pay to stay in business. Cost of living is higher now than what it was (8) yrs. ago. A (40) hr. work week would net you $290/wk. and after Soc.Security/Medicare Taxes (You wouldn't have Fed/State taxes because you don't make enough)......you're left with $200 wk. or a pitiful $10,460/yr so actually you're working for $5/hr. You could do hard-labor jobs for $12/$14-hr. but there's no "stable" income in Hampton Roads.
It's time Hampton Roads closes their doors for business and have local residents MOVE OUT of Hampton Roads for better paying jobs (and better housing). It's just not worth staying here any longer. Good Bye City of (WELFARE) Virginia Beach!
No winners here
Minimum wage was never meant to be a living wage to raise a family of 6 on but a starter wage for beginners who are still in school learning so they can earn a bigger pay check. As the congressional whinnies are patting themselves on the back for securing a few more votes on this stunt a few more workers making that minimum wage will be cut to pay for those making minimum wage.
$7.55 an hour for the city? Say what?
I have a part time job with the city of VB have never been paid $7.55 an hour! This must be a misprint or it's what the NEW wage is going to be. I honestly have no idea b/c my p/t job is for supplemental income.
Someone needs to fact check this article!
Gorz Again
"Neither is it true any longer that the more each individual works, the better off everyone will be. The present crisis has stimulated technological change of an unprecedented scale and speed: 'the micro-chip revolution'. The object and indeed the effect of this revolution has been to make rapidly increasing savings in labour, in the industrial, administrative and service sectors. Increasing production is secured in these sectors by decreasing amounts of labour. As a result, the social process of production no longer needs everyone to work in it on a full-time basis. The work ethic ceases to be viable in such a situation and work-based society is thrown into crisis" (André Gorz, Critique of economic Reason)
60's flashback
My sociology Prof was slinging that Gorz foolishness at me in 1968. It was garbage then, and it remains garbage.
Technology is a lever for the mind, it magnifies our efforts and brings us prosperity through greater efficiency.
It does not replace human effort, it makes us more effective.
Or it wastes our lives playing solitaire.
But you will never impress me quoting dead Marxists. I have enough live ones to worry about.
Ah, memories!
"If you remember the 60's you weren't there"
R.Crumb
The missing point.
You are missing the point that it is not the government’s job to determine how the cash flow in my business is distributed. It is not the government’s job to determine the value of any given employee to my business. It is not the government’s job to determine which of my employees are going to get raises and what the value of those raises are going to be. Why should all my employees now have to produce more, to generate a raise for someone else? If I have to make more demands, then why shouldn’t any raise money available, go those who are earning it?
This isn't about being altruistic, this about running and maintaining a business. If I could squeeze more money out of this economy believe me I would. If I could levy a tax like the government can believe me I would. However, back in reality, every dollar that I have to pay additional in wages, I also have to pay additional SS and Medicare taxes for that employee. There is only so much elasticity in any given cash flow situation for any given business. This isn’t a one size fits all world and this type of social engineering only drives jobs away.
If we left it up to the
If we left it up to the business owners, we'd have slavery. I mean, look at all the business owners that already don't abide by the law and they hire illegal aliens. Free market doesn't work.