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 estimated to cost as many as 1.7 million jobs nationwide.

Consider the evidence:

• A study of three decades of economic research found that 80% of all studies find wage hikes cause significant job loss for minimum wage earners;
• Sixty-two percent of economists oppose a $15 federal minimum wage, with three-quarters indicating it would harm youth employment;
• Tipped restaurant employees have been fighting union ploys to eliminate tip credits across the country, arguing doing so hurts their livelihoods and income.
• A $15 minimum wage plan, pushed by progressives and supported by President Biden, was killed in 2021 by a bipartisan group of Senators. 

Rebekah Paxton, research director for the Employment Policies Institute, said: 

“The SEIU and Fight for $15 have long been more interested in PR opportunities to boost their organization, not good policies that actually help workers. There’s a reason Republicans and Democrats alike oppose these wage hikes: instead of choosing reasonable policies that sustain businesses and jobs, unions are pushing irresponsible targets that kill jobs and cut earnings for American workers.”