PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — In the final months of Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf’s administration, Labor and Industry Secretary Jennifer Berrier visited a Chestnut Hill bakery to tout the importance of raising the state’s minimum wage, a measure that’s a part of his state budget proposal.
The current rate of $7.25 — which hasn’t been raised since the federal government’s hike in 2009 — isn’t even a living wage, Berrier said.
“The MIT calculator calculated the minimum standard of living in this area for a single person … [is] $11-something an hour,” she said. “But still, we’ve seen inflation grow so much within this past year alone, so that number is already outdated.”
Berrier made her case at Night Kitchen on Germantown Avenue Thursday, a bakery that’s only several miles and a brief drive to the New Jersey border, which offers a minimum wage of $13 an hour — 79% more than Pennsylvania.
In fact, all of Pennsylvania’s neighboring states have a higher minimum wage rate.
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“So $7.25 is the absolute minimum wage that any state can have,” she explained, “and Pennsylvania is one of 20 states that has that low minimum wage.”
Some Pennsylvania employers, like Night Kitchen, do pay more than the minimum wage, even though it’s not legally required. Owner Amy Edelson found raising it for her employees reduced turnover.
“It was easier to keep people longer and people were happier in their jobs,” she said. “We have fewer mistakes. We have people that are trained better that know the business inside and out, and who stay with us longer. And when we have less turnover, we make a bigger profit.”
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The same goes for people in the neighborhood — when residents have more to spend, that’s good for her business.
“When the minimum wage goes up, workers have more money to spend at businesses like ours,” Edelson added.
There is currently no timeline for raising the minimum wage because proposals are still sitting in committee.
“It needs to be voted on in the House and Senate floor,” said Berrier, “and it needs to make its way to the governor's desk, which he will sign immediately.”
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