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Report on minimum wage gets it all wrong
February 2018 · Michael Saltsman · The Gazette
It’s deja vu all over again in Johnson County. County leaders tout a new and misleading report as proof that their recent experiment with a higher minimum wage benefited local businesses. Of course, basic economics holds that buyers generally demand less of a product when the price of the product increases, and higher minimum wages make labor more expensive. But Johnson County leaders ignore this principle, and… -
Minimal support for raising Utah’s minimum wage
February 2018 · Michael Saltsman · Deseret News
Twenty states raised their minimum wages at the start of 2018, and Utah Rep. Lynn Hemingway, D-Millcreek, has announced plans for a similar push in the Beehive State. However well-intentioned, Hemingway’s simple solution to force employers to pay more isn’t the right one. Hemingway has proposed raising Utah’s minimum wage immediately to $10.25 per hour — a 41 percent increase. The wage mandate would rise further to… -
The Labor Department Needs To Scrutinize Unions’ ‘Worker Center’ Loophole
January 2018 · Michael Saltsman · Forbes
If you can’t win the game, change the rules. This ignoble sentiment has become a slogan for the modern labor movement, which has struggled to reverse its steady decline in membership. Rather than taking a hard look at the reasons why employees have abandoned unions, some labor organizers have embraced a new brand: Worker centers. The term sounds innocuous enough, but it’s legally significant. Worker centers aren’t bound by the same… -
Andrew Cuomo’s Awful Proposal To Eliminate New York’s Tip Credit
December 2017 · Michael Saltsman · Forbes
In 2013, Gov. Andrew Cuomo was selected one of the worst Governors in America. With his latest proposal to trash New York’s minimum wage for employees who earn tip income (such as restaurant servers), it appears he’s gunning for the title again in 2018. A quirk in New York’s labor law allows the Governor to bypass the legislature to create industry-specific wage requirements. It’s disturbingly simple: A wage board hand-picked… -
Why The $15 Minimum Wage Will Cost California 400,000 Jobs
December 2017 · Michael Satlsman · Forbes
In the new year, less-skilled workers across California will face an old, familiar threat to their employment: A soaring minimum wage. In 2016, Gov. Jerry Brown signed a bill that put the state minimum wage on track to reach $15 per hour by 2022. The next increase—from $10.50 to $11.00—is scheduled for Jan. 1, 2018. If you’re a business in one of thirteen different California localities–from Mountain… -
San Francisco’s Problem Isn’t Robots; It’s the $15 Wage Floor
November 2017 · Michael Satlsman · The Wall Street Journal
Amazon recently received proposals from cities hoping to host its second headquarters. A number of California localities—including Los Angeles, Sacramento, Pomona and Chula Vista—were in the mix. But the tech titan should tread carefully in the Golden State, where policy makers are studying punitive measures against companies that use workplace robots. The latest example is a statewide campaign launched this fall by Jane Kim of the San…