T Spritzler said yesterday, "over 10% of our workforce makes over the minimum wage".
The Minimum Wage Loses
Voters realize it would raise prices and put them out of work.
By Michael Saltsman and Rebekah Paxton, WSJ
Nov. 20, 2024 4:30 pm ET
Donald Trump’s improved performance in states like New York and Illinois wasn’t the only blue-state Election Day surprise. The Associated Press reported this week that a California initiative to raise the minimum wage to $18 an hour failed narrowly. In Massachusetts, 64% of voters rejected a measure to increase the minimum wage for tipped workers ($6.75) to match that of nontipped workers ($15) by 2029.
What went wrong? The labor organization One Fair Wage contributed nearly $2 million to the Massachusetts measure. But proposals to change the tipping system are unpopular with restaurant workers. In July, research consultancy CorCom released a survey of nearly 4,000 restaurant employees in states considering changes to their tipped minimum wage laws. Ninety percent preferred the status quo—a lower base wage with higher tips—to a higher base wage with potentially lower tips.
In Massachusetts, hundreds of tipped workers rallied against the initiative. They were joined by Democratic Gov. Maura Healey, who used to work as a server and expressed concerns that the change might close restaurants and put waiters out of work due to higher labor costs. The initiative’s opponents outspent proponents by over $1 million. Even an endorsement from Hillary Clinton couldn’t save the measure, which lost by 28 points.
California’s minimum-wage ballot question faced similar opposition, because the state’s residents understand how disastrous such policies can be. In September 2023, Gov. Gavin Newsom signed into law a $20 minimum wage for fast-food workers. From September through April (when the change went into effect), fast-food prices in the state climbed more than 10%. The industry has lost more than 4,400 jobs since January, according to seasonally adjusted data.
The public took note. In November 2023, 67% of likely California voters supported raising the statewide minimum wage to $18, according to the Public Policy Institute of California. By this September, the share had declined to 50%. In October, it fell further to 44%. No surprise, then, that the ballot measure appears set to fail with 51% opposition.
Alaska and Missouri passed ballot measures to raise their minimum wages from about $12 to $15. But in both states, the measures’ proponents spent several million dollars, while their opponents spent little or nothing.
Absent these drastic funding imbalances, the lesson from Election Day is clear: Voters are waking up to the consequences of higher minimum wages.
Mr. Saltsman is executive director and Ms. Paxton research director of the Employment Policies Institute.
Comentarios