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‘No one should be forced to retire on minimum wage’

This is part two of a two-part story on minimum wage. Part one appeared in the May 19 edition of the Village News and can be read online at http://www.thevillagenews.com

While business owners are taking steps to financially prepare for the minimum wage increase set to fully take effect in 2022, others believe that there are steps employees can also take to make sure they are employed.

Senator Joel Anderson, of the 38th district, believes that the minimum wage increase is actually a direct attack on the middle class that is not meant to lift or improve the lives of those who make minimum wage.

"No one should be forced to retire on minimum wage," said Anderson, who believes that raising the minimum wage will actually drop the value of jobs that pay more than minimum wage.

"No matter if the minimum wage goes up, the poor person stays poor," he continued, stating that the purchasing power of others not in minimum wage will drop, unless they also receive pay increases. "Those who are making twice minimum wage are now not making twice that."

Anderson believes legislation should focus on purchasing power, not on the amount of money individuals make.

"We really need to focus on individual prosperity," said Anderson. "About 80 percent of cost is labor. Roadblocks to success shouldn't be banked on minimum wage, which is meant to be an entry wage, not an ending wage. I don't care about companies; I care about people − the business owners and people working to improve their lives."

Anderson suggests that individuals who work in minimum wage jobs become trained in other vocations, or enter trade schools to prepare themselves.

"I talked to a local auto dealership, and they're struggling to find an auto technician," said Anderson. "Those positions make $50,000 to $70,000 a year, and that requires a two-year degree that will allow individuals to walk into the job. We have to give more access to these types of jobs. This will let a 16-year-old have the opportunity to have those minimum wage jobs. If we have kiosks in those positions, the 16-year-old no longer has that opportunity."

Senator Richard D. Roth, whose district covers part of the Riverside area, was unavailable for comment at the time of story’s release.

Some business owners do not feel that they will be impacted by the pay increase because they have already been paying their employees above the state minimum.

Paul Williamson, a Fallbrook resident who owns Art Signworks, Inc. in Murrieta, has 10 fulltime employees that are paid $17 to $23 an hour.

"Even though we have a lot of competition from countries all over the U.S., we charge enough for our products so that I can pay them a living wage, and these skilled craftsmen have been with the company three to nine years," said Williamson, who sells products through the internet and retailers. "Yes, they are all Mexican-Americans who have green cards, and none of them had a job or any college when I hired them, so we trained them all to acquire the required skills. I am proud of my employees, and I also am proud to pay them a living wage so they can raise families. Sure, I could pay them less and they'd probably stay on, but it is not the right thing to do. I am not worried about the minimum wage increase; it's about time. There are way too many small businesses who are trying to make a buck on the backs of their employees."

For those who have worked in minimum wage positions, the increase in pay and possible lack of jobs may encourage self-improvement.

Symphony Ariosta, a Fallbrook resident and owner of landscape design company Sweet Serenity Conceptual Landscape Designs, worked in the food service industry for over eight years, mainly as a server. However, once minimum wage began to increase, she found it exceedingly difficult to find local work.

"I turned to school and learned a trade," said Ariosta. "It has been no easy road, but with how the economy is becoming so inflated and over manipulated, I find that we are beginning to revert to age-old business practices by both bartering goods and services, as well as finding niches where our talents may prove useful, and by doing so create a new job or opportunity for ourselves."

Ariosta believes that many hard working individuals will use this time to refine their skills and improve their lives.

"This 'new economy' may be swallowing people whole, but while being chewed up between the nation's jaws, it has also acted as pressure does to coal: it's been transforming many of us into people of substance and worth," said Ariosta. "It's allowing us to reach for opportunities we never would have seen otherwise, had we stayed in our comfortable 'minimum wage' job cage."

Ray Falkner, owner of Falkner Winery, finds it unusual that hard-working individuals stay in minimum wage positions at all.

"People who perform well − they are incredibly hospitable with customers, are engaging, and work through that engagement − they don't stay in minimum wage jobs very long," explained Falkner. "At the winery, their wage is elevated quickly because of their performance. Those who don't perform get let go. Those who are good performers will just ride the wave."

"I don't think minimum wage was ever established to be a wage that constitutes a livelihood for raising a family," continued Falkner. "It was the minimum an employer could pay for an entry level employee that would need to be trained. Now this increase reduces the chance of any individual getting those jobs because owners will want someone who is already skilled and has some experience. I feel for those who are coming out of high school or college looking for somewhere to start. They are going to be the ones who lose out."

 

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