Portland gave its minimum wage workers a raise. Here's what happened next.

[FuzzyLumpkins]

Taken together, these state and local policies amount to a national experiment in how labor markets operate and how companies respond to rising payroll costs. They add another overlay to the red-blue political map: Democrat-run states tend to favor higher minimum wages, in contrast to Republican-controlled states, particularly in the South. The upshot is that by 2022, states like North Carolina and Alabama could be paying wages half those mandated in New York and California.

In Maine, the debate has moved to the state ballot: Voters in November will decide if they support a $12-an-hour minimum wage by 2020. Supporters say this would benefit about one-fourth of the state’s workforce.

Critics say today’s gains are mortgaged to lower future employment, as it becomes more expensive to hire. Raise the minimum wage too high and a career ladder falls away for young and low-skilled workers.

Proponents counter that higher wages alleviate poverty for workers trapped in low-paid sectors – and boost morale and reduce staff turnover, saving employers money. “It’s a single policy that doesn’t require government spending but affects a huge number of people and closes the equality gap,” says Mike Tipping, a campaigner for Maine’s $12 minimum wage ballot initiative.

It’s a debate in which Jon Hinck, a city councilor who helped craft Portland’s new ordinance, is well versed. Researchers have found that paying a minimum wage below 60 percent of the median wage has little or no effect on employment – but it’s impossible to be certain at a local level. “There’s no definitive answer as to what works and what doesn’t. But it’s a truism that there’s a point at which the minimum wage could hurt the economy,” says Mr. Hinck, a Democrat.

‘The sky has not fallen’

So far, Portland’s $10.10 wage hasn’t killed jobs, though some restaurants have cut hours. Many workers already earned above the minimum; tipped servers and bar staff make much more during the summer. Portland’s economy is booming and unemployment is below 3 percent. Even Greg Dugal, a prominent lobbyist for restaurant and hotel owners, admits that “the sky has not fallen.” Hinck calls it a “stunning silence” after the heated arguments over its adoption.

http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Politic...-happened-next

[TheSanityAnnex]

Relatively few workers were on the lowest pay rung.


“We may not have had many people working in Portland at $7.50 an hour. We did have people working at $9 an hour and $9.50 an hour ... and all of these people were affected by going to $10.10 in January,” Brennan says.

[boutons_deux]

$12 is still a taxpayer-subsidized poverty wage