Once those approvals are given, the groups would need to collect valid signatures from 442,958 registered voters from across the state by July 1 to qualify for the November ballot. Anthony Caldwell of the SEIU Local 1199
“We are all on board. We support the fastest path to the highest wage possible,” said Anthony Caldwell of the SEIU Local 1199.
He added that union members typically get involved in such campaigns and volunteer to circulate petitions.
“We have people power,” he said.
Keith Wren, owner of longtime Butler County ice cream shop The Cone in West Chester Twp., said businesses like his employ numerous people for their first job and a large minimum wage increase would make it a “challenge” to hire entry-level workers.
For The Cone, labor is about 40 percent of the store’s costs, especially as it pays a little more than fast food restaurants, Wren said. It also doles out yearly bonuses for those who finish out a season and increases salaries for those who achieve longer tenure or can offer increased availability, he said.
“When (employees) are entry level, if that’s all we’re talking about, it (a minimum wage increase) is a factor for especially smaller stores because it’s going to make it a real challenge for them hiring someone who basically we’re teaching them their skill set,” Wren said.
“We’ve got a lot invested in someone when we train them. We kind of like to start them out on the lower side, naturally, when we first hire them and say, ‘Here’s what we can do for you once we get you trained and you stay with us.’”
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Ohio Education Association President Scott DiMauro said the teachers union hasn’t taken a formal position but has been involved in proposing the constitutional amendment. Polling shows support among Ohioans for a $13 an hour minimum wage, he said.
The proposed constitutional amendment calls for phasing in the increase between 2021 and 2025 and then tying increases to the rate of inflation.
“With minimum wage so low, too many parents can’t make ends meet, and too many students are forced to make do with the very basics,” DiMauro said. “When our students have economic stability at home, they can flourish at school and fulfill their full promise to become leaders, innovators, and caring members of our community.”
In 2006, Ohioans voted 56.6% to 43.3% for a constitutional amendment to bump the state minimum wage up to $6.85 an hour, up from $5.15, and tie future annual increases to the rate of inflation. The 2007 increase was the first minimum wage boost since 1996.
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The state minimum wage for non-tipped workers increased to $8.70 an hour as of Jan. 1 but that is still lower than the minimum set by 23 other states.
About 20 states match or default to the federal minimum wage of $7.25 an hour and six states, plus the District of Columbia, are phasing in a $15 an hour minimum wage. The federal minimum wage was last increased in July 2009.
Business owners are worried about the added expense if they’re compelled to pay higher wages.
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Raising the minimum wage is “a vital step” to ensure that everyone who works for a living earns enough to cover the basics, according to Michael Shields, researcher for Policy Matters Ohio.
A minimum wage raise to $13 would be “a significant but modest step,” Shields said.
Since 1968, productivity — the value Ohio’s workers create in the economy — has grown by 88 percent. Meanwhile, the value of the minimum wage has fallen by 28 percent, considering inflation.
“When I say this (proposed minimum wage increase) is modest, it’s modest in terms of our history and it’s certainly modest in terms of where our productivity is, as well,” he said.
Ohio’s minimum wage peaked in 1968 a little over $12 per hour in today’s dollars, he said.
“Policy makers let its value slip for decades before Ohio voters passed the inflation index in 2006,” Shields said. “By comparison, using Congressional Budget Office’s inflation projections, this measure is worth about $11.50 in today’s dollars.
“We should really all agree that the minimum wage today should be at least as high as it was half a century ago.”
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