Oped Archive (Page 17 )

  • The Problems With A New Study On Seattle’s $15 Minimum Wage

    June 2017 ·  Michael Saltsman ·  Forbes

    The headlines were ebullient: “Minimum Wage Increase Hasn’t Killed Jobs in Seattle.” So said a report from a team of researchers affiliated with the University of California-Berkeley, timed for the three-year anniversary of the law. Seattle Mayor Ed Murray conveniently had an infographic designed and ready to go for the study’s release. His office excitedly tweeted that the policy had “raised food workers’ pay, without negative impact on employment,” linking to an uploaded study…
  • Michael Saltsman: Tipped jobs would suffer from hike in minimum wage

    June 2017 ·  Michael Saltsman ·  Columbus Dispatch

    Leaving a tip for your server at the end of a meal out is a custom as American as apple pie. A poorly understood provision in companion bills being supported by Ohio Reps. Marcia Fudge, Joyce Beatty, Marcy Kaptur and Tim Ryan, along with Sen. Sherrod Brown, puts this tradition, and the highly paid tipped jobs it supports, at risk. The bill, Raise the Wage Act of…
  • Private Attorneys General Act is another burden to California small businesses

    June 2017 ·  Michael Saltsman ·  Orange County Register

    No one questions the necessity of basic workplace protections that keep employees safe. But what happens when minor compliance or technical errors, like a missed lunch break or misclassified information on a paystub, become multi-million dollar liabilities for small employers? Such is the status quo under California’s Private Attorneys General Act, known colloquially as the “sue your boss” law. PAGA allows employees to sue their employer for…
  • Opinion: Retail apocalypse has crippled teen job market

    May 2017 ·  Jordan Bruneau ·  East Bay Times

    Memorial Day weekend marked the unofficial start to summer. But for young jobseekers, there is nothing to celebrate. American retailers that have traditionally staffed up in summers are closing at an unprecedented rate. More than 3,500 stores have closed already this year, with at least 10 well-known retail chains filing for bankruptcy protection. These include RadioShack, Payless Shoes, and Rue21, which plan to close more than 1,000…
  • Raising minimum wage would have been bad for St. Louis job seekers

    May 2017 ·  Jordan Bruneau and Michael Saltsman ·  Missourian

    For St. Louis’ entry-level employees hoping to land a summer job, the recent end of the latest legislative session was a nail-biter. With just minutes to spare before the constitutional close of the session, legislators offered these job seekers a last-moment reprieve from the city’s dramatic minimum wage increase that would have made a difficult summer job market even tougher. Legislators voted to keep minimum wage at…
  • New York City Wants to Supersize the ‘Fight for $15’

    May 2017 ·  Michael Saltsman ·  The Wall Street Journal

    These are difficult times for the American labor movement. Only 6.4% of the private workforce is unionized, an all-time low. Although dues still put an estimated $9 billion a year into union coffers, according to federal filings, increasing that figure depends on recruitment. Hence the New York City Council’s proposal, expected to come up for vote on Wednesday, that would allow hard-to-organize fast-food workers to direct a…