Ordinance rescinds minimum-wage raise for St. Louis workers

Ontario Pope has long struggled to stretch his McDonald’s paycheck to cover the basics and provide for his four young children.

But even after more than nine years with the fast-food chain, the 31-yearold St. Louis man said he still lived with relatives or in motels, the fear of becoming homeless never far from his thoughts.

Mr. Pope was hopeful when the city passed an ordinance in May that raised the minimum wage from the state’s $7.70 to $10. Finally, he thought, he would be able to save enough money to get his own place and buy simple things for his children.

Now that hope is slipping away.

On Monday, McDonald’s rolled Mr. Pope’s wages back to $7.70. He’s one of more than 30,000 workers in St. Louis who could see their wages cut after a state law was adopted prohibiting cities from setting higher minimum wages than the state. The law went into effect Monday.

St. Louis is not the first city to see its minimumwage ordinances undercut by state legislatures. The issue is a divisive topic across America, and there are 25 states that have minimum-wage pre-emption laws — when state governments approve laws that prevent local governments from passing such measures — including Kentucky and Iowa, according to Paul Sonn, general counsel with the National Employment Law Group.

But St. Louis is among the few cities where wages have been rolled back.

The city ordinance that raised the minimum wage to $10 took effect in May after nearly two years of legal battles, including a trip to the Missouri Supreme Court, which ruled that the local minimum wage could take effect.

One of those people who saw her wages shrink on Monday was Wanda Rogers, a 46-year-old cook at McDonald’s.

Ms. Rogers, a grandmother and mother of four, has made $14,700 in the year that she has worked at McDonald’s. She said the minimum-wage increase was helping her get on her feet, but news that her employer would decrease her wages was deflating.

“I was in the process of losing my home and just beginning to catch up on my rent,” Ms. Rogers said. “It’s going to be a struggle for me again.”

When Missouri’s high court cleared the way for St. Louis to raise the minimum wage, Republicans backed by big business lobbyists quickly passed a bill that created a standard statewide minimum wage that barred cities from having a higher minimum wage than the state.

Proponents of setting a statewide minimum wage argue that doing so will help the economy and help save jobs by insuring uniformity. Having different wages across the state, they argue, could result in layoffs, businesses hiring fewer workers or even forcing businesses to flee the city.

Critics of the bill argue that multimillion-dollar corporations, such as retailers and fast- food chains, can afford higher wages for workers, especially if small businesses decide not to lower the minimum wage for their workers.