minimum wage news stories on Newser

Candidates Don't Know—But Don't Like—Minimum Wage

Neal Colgrass — Sun, 18 Mar 2012 15:18:55 CDT

None of the three Republicans running in Missouri's Senate primary know the state's minimum wage, but they definitely don't want it raised, CBS St. Louis reports. Appearing on KMOX radio, former state treasurer Sarah Steelman, Rep. Todd Akin, and businessman John Brunner appeared stumped when asked about the minimum wage....

Minimum Wage to Jump in 8 States

Kate Schwartz — Sat, 24 Dec 2011 05:30:20 CST

It's a very merry Christmas for certain workers in eight states: Arizona, Colorado, Florida, Montana, Ohio, Oregon, Vermont, and Washington will all increase their minimum wage on Jan. 1. The jumps range from 28 cents to 37 cents per hour, and take the states' respective wages to an hourly low...

Minimum Wage in SF Now Tops $10

Evann Gastaldo — Mon, 12 Dec 2011 10:40:05 CST

In San Francisco, the minimum wage is getting a little bit less minimal. Come Jan. 1, the city will be the first in the nation to require that employers pay employees more than $10 per hour, the AP reports. "It's a psychological boost," says one city dweller who works two...

Cain Sat Out Civil Rights Movement

Kevin Spak — Fri, 25 Nov 2011 09:16:06 CST

Herman Cain came of age in the heat of the civil rights movement, but unlike many of his politically conscious peers at the predominantly black Morehouse College, he largely ignored it. “I wasn’t determined to make social change,” Cain tells the Wall Street Journal . “I wanted to earn some change...

Bachmann Won't Rule Out Dropping the Minimum Wage

Kevin Spak — Sat, 27 Aug 2011 07:42:05 CDT

Michele Bachmann says everything would be on the table in her administration when it came to trying to boost employment—including dropping the federal minimum wage. Asked yesterday if she would consider changing the minimum wage to make US labor costs more competitive with overseas costs, she replied, "I'm not...

Bachmann: Let's 'Look at' Minimum Wage

Matt Cantor — Tue, 28 Jun 2011 08:50:53 CDT

Michele Bachmann still thinks minimum wage needs a review—and she says John Quincy Adams was a founding father. Noting that Politifact says she’s gotten more “facts” wrong than any other GOP hopeful, George Stephanopoulos asked her if she wanted to “clear up” some past comments, like her suggestion that...

Newsweek: Americans Will Work for 25 Cents an Hour

Mark Russell — Sun, 26 Jun 2011 08:13:00 CDT

The minimum wage in America may officially be $7.25, but in fact there are Americans willing to work online for as little as 25 cents per hour—a fraction of the amount residents of Germany ($3), the Philippines ($2.25), and even India ($1) agreed to toil for. Or...

Former Hard Rock Servers Sue Over Tip Policy

Nick McMaster — Wed, 19 Jan 2011 18:52:58 CST

Two former servers at the Hard Rock Cafe in Orlando—the chain's biggest site—are suing because they say the restaurant illegally paid them less than minimum wage for three years, the Orlando Sentinel reports. They say Hard Rock broke the law by requiring them to share tips not only...

Schwarzenegger Drops State Workers to Minimum Wage

Kevin Spak — Fri, 02 Jul 2010 07:27:00 CDT

Arnold Schwarzenegger upped the ante in his budget standoff with the state legislature yesterday, ordering almost all state workers' pay cut to the federal minimum wage—$7.25 per hour—effective immediately. The State Controller, Democrat John Chiang, says he won’t obey that order, the LA Times reports, but the...