Minimum wage might rise
Friday, March 10, 2006
PAUL WYCHE
THE SAGINAW NEWS

Burger flippers, sales clerks and others who scrape by on minimum wage have hope.

Michigan workers will receive a raise of $1.80 an hour in October -- boosting their salaries to $6.95 an hour under legislation the state Senate passed unanimously Thursday.

The pay will rise gradually to $7.40 an hour by July 2008. The House next week likely will approve the plan, and Gov. Jennifer M. Granholm said she'll sign it.

Rite Aid cashier Ok Fairbanks said she is glad to hear it.

"That's wonderful," said Fairbanks, who has worked at the pharmacy at West Genesee and North Michigan for nearly four years.

"It's about time (lawmakers) did something. This is great; now I just have to wait for the raise."

Just last month, unions and other activists throughout the state launched the Michigan Needs a Raise coalition, aimed at increasing the hourly wage to $6.85.

They got a dime more than they lobbied for, but some critics of the boost say it has more to do with politics than creating a fair wage.

The Michigan Needs campaign would have united thousands of Democrats, possibly driving up the number of voters at the polls in November -- a scenario Republicans fear. So, upping the minimum wage before the fall election made political sense to the GOP.

Senate Majority Leader Ken Sikkema, a Wyoming Republican, said as much.
"It's a factor in the decision making," he said, referring to the Michigan Needs effort. "There's no question about it."

Gary Fahndrich, chairman of the Independent Business Association of Saginaw County and owner of West Side Decorating Center Inc., 3505 State in Saginaw, said there are two sides to the minimum wage debate.

"I understand it from both standpoints," he said.

"On the one hand, people say it's long overdue, but for the businessman it's going to be another expense that will probably have to get passed on to the consumer."

Some business groups long opposed to minimum-wage hikes reluctantly supported the Senate's action, arguing that it is better than the ballot proposal. But they aren't happy about it.

"We understand that (Republicans) are trying to make a bad situation better," said Charles Owens, state director of the National Federation of Independent Business.

Rob Fowler, head of the Small Business Association of Michigan, said, however, that his group remained "unalterably opposed to a mandated minimum-wage increase." He said raising wage costs for small employers makes it more expensive to offer entry-level jobs to low-skilled workers.

Even so, the Washington, D.C.-based nonprofit Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now -- ACORN -- said it will continue fighting for low income individuals. The group plans to establish an office in Saginaw next month. It has branches in Lansing, Detroit and Flint.

"We are happy about the minimum wage, but there are a lot of other issues here, like vacant houses," said Jarone Nash, head organizer for the reform group, which has a temporary office at the Service Employees International Union building, 1420 S. Michigan in Saginaw.

"The minimum wage increase is good, though, because it's been nine years since we've had it raised, but we still have a lot of hard-working people living below the poverty line."

Michigan's $5.15-per-hour minimum wage is the same as the federal government's. Seventeen states and the District of Columbia have higher minimum wages.

"We have repeatedly called for an increase in the state's minimum wage, and (now) we are one step closer to raising the wages paid to tens of thousands of workers in this state," Granholm said.