Restaurant Industry, Others Criticize $15 Per Hour Hike For Varying Reasons
Following last week’s news that New York’s Wage Board recommended that the state increase fast-food worker wages to $15 per hour, the move is drawing controversy from various groups for different reasons. The AP reported that New York’s fast-food industry is considering filing a lawsuit against the plan, which still has yet to be formally approved by Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s labor commissioner. Lawyers “say their lawsuit could focus on whether the increase was arbitrarily and unfairly applied to a single group.” Critics of the proposal are “also unhappy with Cuomo for letting an unelected Wage Board issue the recommendation instead of letting the Legislature debate the idea.”
Meanwhile, the New York Times reported that although worker advocates across the US “cheered last week when New York became the first state to recommend a $15-an-hour minimum wage specifically for fast-food workers,” in New York City the move has “created a stark new divide between low-wage workers who will receive the boost in their paychecks and those who will not.” While about 50,000 fast-food workers in the city will benefit from the increase, according to the Fiscal Policy Institute, about 1.25 million workers “who earn less than $15 an hour do not work for fast-food chains and will not benefit.”
What This Means For Small Businesses
New York City’s small business owners will face increased challenges with a $15 per hour minimum wage. As Mike Durant, New York State director of the NFIB said in the Auburn (NY) Citizen, the Wage Board’s recommendation has “set a disastrous course for future minimum wage discussions,” in part because the process of the state Wage Board lacked “true business representation” and saw Gov. Cuomo “embrace a movement which proved hostile to employers at every public hearing.”
Additional Reading
In a “Wonkblog” post for the Washington Post, Lydia Depillis wrote about controversy in the business community regarding calls for a higher minimum wage. The New York Times reported on the nationwide push to boost the minimum wage to $15 per hour, as did Forbes.
Note: this article is intended to keep small business owners up on the latest news. It does not necessarily represent the policy stances of NFIB.
