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Summer wage hikes punish young adults
July 2016 · Michael Saltsman · Detroit News
Last week’s jobs report brought the good news that the economy added 287,000 jobs in June. But for those who read the fine print, the report was less encouraging. In the last five months, the unemployment rate for black youth jumped by 8 percentage points to 31.2 percent. To put this in real numbers, June saw 60,000 more black teenagers looking for work and unable to find it than… -
Why Wal-Mart can NOT afford to pay workers a $15 minimum wage
June 2016 · Michael Saltsman · CNBC
Can large corporations afford a $15 minimum wage better than small businesses? Despite the fact that roughly half of the minimum wage workforce is employed at businesses with fewer than 100 employees, corporations such as Wal-Mart have been used as the poster child in the case for a much higher wage floor. This claim rests on three talking points: These companies sell billions of dollars of retail… -
Moderating the harm from a higher minimum wage
May 2016 · Michael Saltsman · The Hill
Voters in several states, including Colorado, Washington, and Arizona, may face dramatic and irresponsible minimum wage initiatives on their ballots this fall. Understandably, the business community in these states and elsewhere has attempted to moderate the damage with competing proposals of their own. Labor union-backed groups like the National Employment Law Project have feigned outrage at these efforts, writing most recently in Newsweek that they are “deceptive,”… -
Minimum wage increase is barrier to entering the workforce
May 2016 · Michael Saltsman · Daily Herald
Last week, McDonald’s corporate headquarters in Oak Brook was inundated with protesters bused in by the Service Employees International Union, which is in the midst of a $70 million-plus campaign to unionize the fast food industry. Thus far, the union’s campaign has failed to yield a windfall of new dues-paying members. It has, however, inspired cities like Chicago to foolishly embrace a minimum wage beyond any historical… -
The Union Minimum Wage Windfall: California’s $15 hourly rate will put money in labor’s pockets, no collective bargaining required.
May 2016 · Michael Saltsman · Wall Street Journal
When Gov. Jerry Brown signed California’s $15-an-hour minimum wage into law in April—it will rise to that figure by 2022-23 from $10 today—he wasn’t merely advancing organized labor’s political agenda. He was giving its members a substantial pay raise, no collective bargaining required. This sort of direct union pay benefit from a minimum-wage hike is unusual. Bureau of Labor Statistics data show that the median weekly earnings… -
SF worker scheduling law has resulted in job cutbacks
May 2016 · Michael Saltsman · San Francisco Chronicle
San Francisco prides itself on being a city of firsts. The political benefits of being first are self-evident, but the economic drawbacks can also be significant. A new evaluation of the city’sFormula Retail Employee Rights Ordinance suggests it may join the city’s other firsts as a lesson in unintended consequences. San Francisco was the first city to require private employers to provide for all employees’ paid sick…