Groups stump to raise wages to $15 an hour
MEDIA COURTHOUSE >> Raising the minimum wage in the state is not only an economic issue, but a moral one, according to proponents who took their message to the steps of the county courthouse Thursday morning.
“When we make economic decisions, we are also making moral decisions,” said John Meyerson, spokesperson for Raise the Wage PA. “And when we make economic decisions for the poorest among us … it affects everybody.”
Meyerson, speaking at the joint event hosted by Raise the Wage PA and the Coalition for Labor Engagement and Accountable Revenues, argued that raising the minimum wage to $15 per hour would impact more than 83,000 county residents, or nearly a third of the workforce, who would put that money back into the local economy.
“That extra money is not going to a Swiss bank account or the Cayman Islands, it is being spent right back here on the main street of Media, or Swarthmore, or anyplace else in the state,” he said.
Joining Meyerson Thursday was state Rep. Leanne KruegerBraneky, D-161 of Swarthmore, who co-sponsored legislation introduced in the House by Dauphin County Democrat Patty Kim to raise the minimum wage to $15 incrementally over the next six years.
Krueger-Braneky, who faces an election challenge from Republican Patti Rodgers Morrisette this year, noted those earning the minimum wage of $7.25 per hour in the state fall well below the poverty line. She also sought to dispel the image of low-income earners as teenagers working for pocket money.
“Research shows that 90 percent of those individuals impacted by raising the minimum wage to $15 here in Pennsylvania are 20 years or older and about 42 percent are over the age of 40,” she said. “These are working adults trying to support their families on poverty wages. Nearly 60 percent of them are women. Many of them are the primary breadwinners of their homes.”
“Working families are feeling squeezed,” said JoAnne Sessa, secretary-treasurer for Service Employee International Union 668. “On top of that, saving for retirement has become a monumental challenge since far too many middle class families are barely able to get by.”
Sessa said those making only the minimum wage or less simply cannot get by without seeking assistance, which places an additional burden on the state and the local economy.
Earning a “living wage” would pull families out of poverty, improve worker morale and health, reduce worker absenteeism and turnover rates, and cut training and administrative costs, she said.
Krueger-Braneky and Meyerson also noted that 18 other states have already boosted the minimum wage, including all of Pennsylvania’s neighbors.
“We’re even embarrassed by West Virginia,” said Meyerson. “I’ve been in Pennsylvania now for decades and one of the things we take pride in is being able to make fun of West Virginia. We can’t do that anymore.”
Another theme of the event was doing away with “preemption” laws that block local municipalities from imposing their own minimum wage standards, which Democratic Swarthmore Mayor Tim Kearney addressed in his remarks.
“The party in power in Harrisburg right now preaches smaller government and local control, except when they don’t agree with it,” said Kearney, who is challenging incumbent Republican state Sen. Tom McGarrigle in the 26th District.
Bob Dick, senior policy analyst for the right-leaning Commonwealth Foundation, said Pennsylvania should be working to create an economy where workers can earn a living wage, but increasing the minimum wage is the wrong way to go about it.
Dick argued that cutting the corporate tax rate and doing away with corporate welfare loans and tax credits would have a more immediate and positive impact by leveling the playing field for all employers.
He pointed to companies that raised their own wages unbidden by government interference in the wake of a recent federal tax cut as a model, as well as a review of Gov. Tom Wolf’s last budget by the Independent Fiscal Office, which found that raising the minimum wage to just $12 per hour by 2019 would eliminate 33,000 jobs.
“There are better ways to improve people’s finances, families’ finances, without coming in and mandating that businesses pay workers a certain wage,” said Dick. “The best way to allow people to earn a family-sustaining wage is allowing the market to determine what that wage should be.”
Mark Price, a labor economist with the left-leaning Keystone Research Center, said he believes the IFO overstated projected job losses in that report, but noted it still found that more than 1 million workers would benefit from an increase to the minimum wage.
Price said Pennsylvania’s job growth is actually slower than its neighbors, which have not seen jobs vanish with higher minimum wages.
While there are not a lot of studies dealing with the impact of raising wages as high as $15 yet, Price said the vast majority of information available on moderate wage increases since 1990 have found employers are able to absorb the extra cost through various avenues, including investing more in employee retention, raising prices slightly or taking home fewer profits.
Price acknowledged that there may be some losers as well, but he argued there is historically a “churn” that happens with increased minimum wages in which new employers will move to fill the gap left by failed businesses.
He added that many of the largest low-income employers are giant corporations like Target and Walmart that have already signaled a desire to move toward higher wages anyway.
Ruth Moton, the Republican candidate for the 159th state Legislative District seat currently held by Democrat Brian Kirkland, was in the audience Thursday and noted the minimum wage has not budged in 10 years, even as the cost of living has gone up.
“It’s something that needs to be addressed,” she said. “Everyone has someone in their family who’s working at least two jobs just to make it – not even saving for vacation or anything – and now it’s getting cold out and people are faced with food, medicine and heat. It’s like a juggling act and it shouldn’t be that way.”