Minimum pay up in '07

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(Columbian, The (Vancouver, WA) (KRT) Via Thomson Dialog NewsEdge) Sep. 28--The paychecks for Washington's minimum-wage workers will increase by about 29 cents an hour in 2007, giving joy to employees like Ryan Bisson and frustration to business owners like Scott Dickinson.



The two are the yin and yang of the wage debate.

"That's a big increase for me," said Bisson, a Clark College student who works two minimum wage jobs. "You really notice it in your check."

Dickinson, who owns seven KFC restaurants in Southwest Washington and employs about 140 workers, sees the impact differently.

"The minimum wage issue has quite honestly been disastrous for small business for many years now," he said.

It's a debate that is revived each year in Washington as the state Department of Labor and Industries adjusts the wage figure. This year's announcement comes Friday. The new minimum goes into effect Jan. 1.

In Clark County, roughly 4,000 of the 132,000 workers here likely held minimum wage jobs in 2005. Economists say the actual figure is difficult to compute since most people in such jobs aren't working full time.

The annual wage alteration comes each September and is courtesy of Washington's voters who in 1998 approved a law that adjusts the state's minimum hourly wage according to the annual change in the Consumer Price Index. The CPI measures the average inflationary shift in prices for a fixed number of goods and services such as food, shelter and medical care.

The actual figure to come from the state Friday could be a few pennies higher or lower than the estimated 29 cents an hour. Congress this summer unsuccessfully tried to raise the national minimum wage of $5.15 to $7.25 during a two-year period.

Voters in Arizona, Colorado, Missouri, Montana, Nevada and Ohio will decide in November whether to raise minimum wage levels above the national rate.

Wage debate

Critics of the arbitrary wage requirement argue it hurts the country's low-income workers, depresses private enterprise and can actually result in a loss of jobs.

Dickinson agrees wholeheartedly. Before Washington's law was enacted, Dickinson's workers who had more skills or seniority made significantly more than the minimum wage. None of his employees make more than a dollar over minimum wage.

He said the automatic pay increase gives a 16-year-old the same pay as a 35-year-old trying to support a family.

"We're approaching $8 (an hour)," he said. "I shudder to think where we go with it."

Shelly Lundberg, an economics professor at the University of Washington, said moderate increases in minimum wage tend to have small negative impacts on employment of the very young or inexperienced workers and negligible impacts on more highly experienced or skilled workers in the overall job market. She said businesses have learned to deal with the annual adjustments.

Bisson understands businesses can struggle with the forced pay increase, but is still thankful for the pay boost.

A year ago he was making $10.50 an hour working in a warehouse in Clackamas, Ore., when he realized he needed to "step up and go to school so I'm not in a minimum-wage job my whole life."

Bisson quit the warehouse job, moved back in with his parents and studies at Clark College to become a music teacher.

He spends 20 hours a week as a barista at Savana Coffee House and another 10 hours a week at Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory store at Westfield Vancouver mall. Starting next, year because of the minimum wage change, his total weekly pay will increase to about $237.60, up $8.70.

Debbie Parshall, owner of Savana Coffee House, said it can be difficult to absorb the pay increase for her six employees. Still, she considers it necessary to keep good workers. In fact, Parshall pays above minimum wage for most of her employees.

"I don't have the resources for health benefits or paid vacation so I pay decently so they stay," she said.

Jonathan Nelson covers retail for The Columbian. He can be reached at 360-759-8013 or via e-mail at [email protected].

WASHINGTON'S HOURLY WAGE

2007: $7.92 2006: $7.63 2005: $7.35 2004: $7.16 2003: $7.01

*estimated figure; effective Jan. 1.

Source: Washington Employment Security Department

Copyright (c) 2006, The Columbian, Vancouver, Wash.
Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Business News.
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