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What I’ve Been Reading This Week: Minimum Wage Edition


Last week, we had a post dedicated to labor law and some union developments.  This week, given the host of recent updates, I think it is appropriate to make this a post dedicated to minimum wage issues.  Of course, even for those readers that do not dabble in this area of the law, I still encourage you to give the below articles a read.  If nothing else, for those readers that wake up in the middle of the night and need something to put you back to sleep, let my words do the trick.

As always, below are a couple articles that caught my eye this week.



For those Duke fans that are mourning the Final Four loss to UNC or the retirement of Coach K, perhaps this news will turn things around.  Effective July 1, Duke University will provide a $17/hour wage rate to all eligible employees.  The pay increase will apply to 3,100 staff members at Duke that work at least 20 hours per week/36 weeks per year.  This wage hike follows a prior wage increase to $15/hour back in 2019.  Perhaps in a couple years we will revisit this topic and talk about Duke increasing wages to $19 or $20/hour?  Stay tuned.



Last Friday, a minimum wage hike went into effect for workers in Tucson, Arizona.  While the statewide rate is currently at $12.80/hour, voters in Tucson had previously approved a wage hike beyond the statewide wage rate.  Las a result, all workers is Tucson saw their hourly wage rate increase to $13/hour last week with an eventual increase to $15/hour by January 1, 2025.



$3.30/hour.  Yes, since 1938 there is the sub minimum wage that can lawfully be paid to disabled workers.  However, that sub minimum wage could become a relic…perhaps sooner rather than later.  Many worker advocacy groups, including the Texas Advocates (a disabilities civil rights group), have argued that lawmakers need to get rid of the exemption that has been in place for decades as these workers deserve to be paid the “standard” minimum wage applied to non disabled workers.  I refer readers to this article from Waylon Cunningham at The San Antonio Report for a further breakdown of the steps being taken to do away with this sub minimum wage.



Recently, JPMorgan Chase CEO Jaime Dimon called for a national minimum wage hike in order to attract workers and give a sense of “dignity” to certain minimum wage workers such as cashiers and cooks.  As noted, Dimon has walked the walk, previously raising wage rates for the company’s lowest paid workers in 2018 to provide them wage rates ranging from $15 - $18/hour.  Will his words lead to any noticeable change?  Hard to say.  But if nothing else, this should provide some fodder for minimum wage advocates to show there is growing support for a national minimum wage hike.



Yes, you read that right.  Every St. Petersburg (Florida) city worker will receive a $15/hour wage rate, regardless of how long they have been employed with the city.  Previously, the St. Petersburg City Council had set a $15/hour wage rate for any worker that had worked for the city for at least 5 years.  However, this revision will expand that $15/wage rate to all city workers, marking a real boon for minimum wage advocates.

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