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A Sick Policy
June 2013 · Michael Saltsman · The New York Daily News
The City Council’s passage of a citywide mandatory paid sick leave bill is not a cause for celebration. A study by the Institute for Women’s Policy Research — a group supportive of paid sick leave laws — found that nearly 30% of San Francisco’s lowest-wage employees reported layoffs or reduced hours at their place of work following that city’s passage of a paid leave mandate. Another survey… -
Basu’s Analysis of Minimum Wage Fails
June 2013 · Michael Saltsman · Des Moines Register
Rekha Basu’s recent column (“Minimum Wage Can’t Provide Basic Needs,” June 7) may tug at the heartstrings, but it fails to address the fundamental issue at hand: A minimum wage hike will harm the people it’s supposed to help. The economics aren’t tough to understand. Businesses that hire entry-level employees who earn the minimum wage — think restaurants or grocery stores — keep a few cents in profit from… -
Pay Attention to Two Sides in Minimum-Wage Debate
May 2013 · Michael Saltsman · Los Angeles Daily News
RE: “Time to raise the minimum wage?” (May 19): Economist Sylvia Allegretto claimed there is no link between minimum-wage hikes and job losses. What she didn’t mention is that her research findings were disproven. Economists at the University of California, Irvine, and the Federal Reserve Board recently released a study showing that Allegretto’s and her co-authors’ conclusions are not supported by the data. In reality, the economic… -
Wage Mandates Hurt Workers
May 2013 · Michael Saltsman · Cleveland Plain Dealer
Marcia Pledger’s story on the minimum wage (“Issue of minimum-wage raise fuels passionate proponents, opponents,” Sunday) unfortunately repeats the oft-used falsehood that tipped workers earn “only” $2.13 an hour. Federal law requires that all tipped employees earn at least the minimum wage of $7.25. Tipped employees actually average $13 an hour when tip income is included, according to Census Bureau data — and top earners earn $24 or more. Additionally, research… -
Minimum Wage Hike Hurts
May 2013 · Michael Saltsman · Baltimore Sun
In a recent Sun article, “Labor officials bring minimum wage push to Baltimore” (May 14), a researcher from the labor union-supported Economic Policy Institute claims that the “majority of minimum-wage earners work for large companies in the retail, fast-food and hospitality sectors, not for small businesses.” This is not true: Two-thirds of lower-wage workers are at businesses with 100 or more employees, not “large companies.” These 100-employee… -
Minimum Wage Poll was Incomplete
April 2013 · Michael Saltsman · The Record
Regarding “Most favor minimum wage hike” (Page L-7, April 18): The recent Rutgers-Eagleton poll finding that 76 percent of New Jerseyans support a minimum wage increase only proves that incomplete poll questions yield misleading results. My organization commissioned ORC International to conduct a similar poll regarding an increase in the minimum wage. When respondents were informed of the unintended consequences of minimum wage hikes — particularly how…