Employers didn’t make very good case against minimum wage hike

To the Editor:

The Feb. 6 edition of The Athens NEWS included a localized article about annual minimum wage increases in Ohio. Not surprisingly, quotes from several local businesspeople are critical of the increases, but their explanations were hard to swallow. For instance, one said he can't give his managers a raise because the increases are losing him "hundreds to a thousand dollars per week." Can this really be true? The raises are 30 cents and 15 cents for untipped and tipped employees, respectively, and we'll assume each has a hidden cost of 10 cents to the employer. To lose $200, he would need to employ 12.5 untipped full-time people. To lose $1,000, he would need to employ 65.5 people full-time. The smaller number is at least plausible, but thousands of dollars? The phrase "greatly exaggerated" comes to mind.

Another employer is quoted as saying Ohioans who voted for the constitutional amendment instituting the annual minimum wage increase probably did not know it meant "annual" raises. What? I voted for the amendment specifically because it DOES require annual raises. Previously, the minimum wage was only raised when politicians felt so inclined, which was working out to once every decade or two. That's great for a businessperson, but pretty lousy for his employees.

On the positive side of things, it was reassuring to read that most employees of the Bagel Street Deli are paid above minimum wage. They get raises when the business does well, which seems a lot fairer than waiting until a politician is feeling generous or the owner is losing employees to big spenders like Walmart.

Speaking of which, Walmart is notorious for keeping its stores staffed with part-time employees to save on various unnecessary perks, such as decent health care. One of the downtown business people said the minimum wage increase hurts workers because it favors his hiring full-time workers instead of many part-time workers. For many, the whole point of the minimum wage is to create a "living wage" at which people can survive while working full-time. More full-time jobs sounds like a win for local workers and not the other way around, especially because another employer says his part-timers are people just looking for extra money. I think this was meant to justify paying them as little as possible. Niiicccceee. So, thinking things over, I think I will go get a bagel and support those who support their employees.

Greg Springer
Avon Place
Athens