Businesses are investing a lot of hard work and money to fight against efforts to raise the minimum wage, which is ironic because the issue has long been considered dead-on-arrival, reports CNN Money.
President Barack Obama wants to see the federal minimum wage raised to $10.10 per hour from $7.25 an hour. It's a desire that is obviously opposed by much of the business community.
Though many appear confident that efforts to hike minimum wage will not come to fruition any time soon, businesses are pulling out all stops to fight against the possibility,
CNN Money reports.
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Through March, the National Retail Federation had already spent $1 million lobbying against higher wages. And just last week, the Employment Policy Institute ran television and radio ads featuring a fortune teller who foresees a wage hike killing one million jobs.
Despite the opposition from business leaders and politicians, hiking the minimum wage is an idea that is widely supported by the public.
In fact, higher wages is such a popular issue that many companies are lobbying behind the scenes but refuse to take an official public stance, CNN Money says. One major exception, however, is businesses in the restaurant industry, some of the most vocal critics of wage hikes.
DineEquity, owner of Applebee's and IHOP, confirmed it is lobbying in opposition of higher wages.
Dairy Queen franchise owner Robert Mayfield does not hide his feelings either.
Mayfield told CNN Money a minimum wage hike will push menu prices up and shove employees out the door as they are replaced with order-taking computers.
Hourly workers who support the wage hike are clueless about the effects, according to Mayfield.
“The people making more money from minimum wage are going to find inflation is going to offset any meaningful gains,” he said.
Last week, the President blamed Republicans for blocking a bill to hike wages.
Opponents tend to portray a minimum wage hike as unnecessary, claiming only a small number of Americans are in that pay range, and most them are young people working for spending money, not adults with real responsibilities.
Not so,
the Los Angeles Times reports.
About 50 percent of minimum wage workers are between ages 16 and 24 and the other half are 25 and older.
A full-time minimum wage job pays about $15,000 a year, which is below the poverty line for two people. More important than age is the fact that 10 million children depend on low-wage workers.
Millions of Americans are currently earning more than minimum wage due to state mandated minimum wage hikes. But many are still earning less than Obama's desired rate of $10.10 per hour.
Various studies show that looping in those workers means over 16 million Americans stand to benefit from a federal wage hike, the Times reports.
Another 11 million could potentially benefit from the “ripple effect” whereby employers hike wages overall to attract and retain talent, the Times adds.
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