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Unions Demand GOP Candidates Support Job-Killing Wage Hikes
August 2023
Arlington, Va. – Ahead of the first Republican presidential primary debate, organizers with the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) and Fight for $15 are threatening to protest the venue. Yet the Fight for 15’s namesake policy to raise minimum wages has drawn bipartisan opposition and would cause significant job loss and earnings loss for affected employees. Now another progressive push for a $17 federal minimum wage is… -
Bernie Sanders’ $17 Minimum Wage Proposal Could Cost Up to 1.7M Jobs: New Employment Policies Institute Study Released Ahead of Expected July Introduction of New $17 Minimum Wage Bill
July 2023
Arlington, Va. – Today, the Employment Policies Institute released a new report detailing the estimated job loss impacts of Sen. Bernie Sanders’ proposed $17 federal minimum wage bill, which he is expected to introduce in July. The report finds that a $17 regular minimum wage would result in over 1.2 million jobs lost across the country, and further eliminating the federal tip credit would slash another 447,000… -
DC’s Second Wage Hike This Year Will Double Pain for Restaurants
June 2023
While District of Columbia residents celebrate the Independence Day holiday weekend, the city’s restaurants will be quietly saddled with yet another minimum wage hike. On July 1, D.C. will raise the tipped minimum wage again up to $8 per hour, after a previous increase to $6 per hour just two months ago. For restaurants, this is a 33 percent increase in their wage bill, and represents a… -
New $15 Minimum Wage Proposal Would Kill 86,000 Pennsylvania Jobs
June 2023
Arlington, Va. – Today, the Employment Policies Institute released a new report detailing the estimated job loss impacts of H.B. 1500, which would raise the state minimum wage to $15 per hour, passed by the House of Representatives today. The bill would also raise the wage for tipped employees more than 200 percent up to $9 per hour. The report finds this proposal would result in roughly… -
STATEMENT: Sen. Sanders’ Call to Raise the Minimum Wage to $17/hr Will Slash More Than 2M Jobs
May 2023
In a press conference outside the U.S. capitol this morning, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) will announce his bill to raise the federal minimum wage to $17 per hour. In a recent op-ed in The Guardian, Sanders suggested a $17 per hour minimum wage was “the right thing to do,” and discussed “address[ing] the scandal of the tipped wage.” The Employment Policies Institute stands with the vast majority of economists who oppose… -
New Data Shows Restaurants Are Bracing for Tipped Wage Hike in DC: Majority of D.C. Restaurants Say They Will be Forced to Lay off Staff, Close Locations, or Move Outside of DC
April 2023
Arlington, Va. – Today, the Employment Policies Institute (EPI) released new survey results that find District of Columbia restaurant operators are bracing for the negative consequences of the city’s tip credit elimination beginning May 1, including anticipated staff reductions, fewer raises, steep price increases, and restaurant closures. Key findings from the survey of more than 100 D.C. operators: Eighty-five percent of operators indicated tip credit elimination will force them to reduce the number of…