Seattle, San Francisco, and Los Angeles have all made steps to increase minimum wage. Now Tacoma seems be following suit as well and the community is in a buzz. On October 8th, I joined fellow Sound Economics writer Jesse Kreutzer and University of Puget Sound professor Andrew Monaco on a trip to Pacific Lutheran University for a public debate about the recent addition to the 2015 November ballot in Tacoma. The debate contained both sides of the argument, #PLU15NOW and #PLUNO15. The side in favor was research analyst, Vince Kueter and PLU senior debater Angie Tinker. Both were speaking in favor of the new initiative, City of Tacoma Citizens\u2019 Initiative Measure No. 1, which would raise the minimum wage to $15 in the City of Tacoma. The measure adds a new chapter to the Tacoma Municipal Code entitled \u201cTacoma Minimum Wage Ordinance.\u201d This new ordinance would establish the new minimum wage immediately following its enactment.<\/p>\n
Many residents of Tacoma have been hesitant to make this new initiative into law. The fact that minimum wage would increase immensely in such a short amount of time has created opposition to the measure. Representatives from this side also attended the PLU debate. The opposition was the president of the Tacoma-Pierce County Chamber of Commerce, Tom Pierson and PLU junior Matt Aust. Pierson represents the part of Tacoma that is worried about the state of Tacoma\u2019s economy after a $5.53 increase in minimum wage. Even the Tacoma City Council saw the need for some sort of alternative. Soon after Initiative No. 1 was certified to be put on the 2015 ballot, the Tacoma City Council voted to put an alternative measure on the ballot as well. This alternative, Initiative 1B, was constructed to increase minimum wage each year to until it hit $12 per hour at the beginning of January 2018. The opposition advocated for this alternative measure arguing that it was a way to ease Tacoma\u2019s economy and business owners into a higher minimum wage. Both sides of the debate produced strong points and observations, but when it came down to it priority was the theme of the discussion.<\/p>\n
Advocates for Initiative No. 1 expressed a desire for immediate protection of minimum wage workers, who include students and food service workers. The problem, as stated by Kueter, is wages are not being kept current with today\u2019s economy. Economists have noticed a trend of constant inflation within most First World economies such as the US. There may be fluctuation within this overall trend, but it tends to level out. This means that prices and the cost of living will continue to increase as time passes. Those in favor for minimum wage increase usually look to this trend as the reason to enact measures like Tacoma\u2019s $15 per hour increase. This initiative is watching out for the minimum wage workers. Kueter brought up work related stress causing health issues, while Tinker turned to descriptive stories of struggling low wage workers. It became obvious that their argument was primary focused on the workers, which makes sense. For the supporters of 15 Now Tacoma group, the low paid employees at Taco Time are who they are trying to protect. Minimum wage employees are the priority for them.<\/p>\n
On the other side, the opposition to Initiative 1 is trying to protect business owners. They made the argument that businesses would be \u201cshocked\u201d by this sudden increase in minimum wage, especially small businesses. Pierson felt that a minimum wage increase was necessary, but that Initiative 1 was too rash. He thought that small businesses would feel the brunt of this change and that it would hurt Tacoma\u2019s economy. Stores and shops would feel the pressure to raise prices or simply move outside of Tacoma. The argument expressed by Pierson was one centered around protection of business owners.<\/p>\n
Once again, the question of priority is raised. It is clear that the opposition\u2019s argument reflects the notion that small businesses should hold more priority than workers. It becomes evident that debate over minimum wage increase revolves around the question of who we should protect: minimum wage workers or business owners. Or another way to look at it is which group in Tacoma\u2019s economy needs support? The employees or employers. Priority shifts and changes over time and between different groups of people. It is not always easy to see which group really needs protection or support more in the short run. But questions to ask oneself is \u201cwho has the priority in our society? And who should?\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Seattle, San Francisco, and Los Angeles have all made steps to increase minimum wage. Now Tacoma seems be following suit as well and the community is in a buzz. On October 8th, I joined fellow Sound Economics writer Jesse Kreutzer and University of Puget Sound professor Andrew Monaco on a trip to Pacific Lutheran University for a public debate about the recent addition to the 2015 November ballot in Tacoma. The debate contained both sides of the argument, #PLU15NOW and #PLUNO15. The side in favor was research analyst, Vince Kueter and PLU senior debater Angie Tinker. Both were speaking in Continue reading Priorities and Minimum Wage Increase<\/span>