As Washington D.C.’s Committee on Business, Consumer & Regulatory Affairs holds a hearing today on the minimum wage, recent news shows just how devastating any increase could be to the city’s economy.
In a survey of business owners in D.C. released yesterday, two-thirds agreed that D.C. was becoming unfriendly to businesses by hiking the minimum wage. Half of employers also noted that they would be likely to reduce their staffing levels due to the increase in the minimum wage.
The survey also showed that business would have to consider closing, while others would take steps to move across the river to Arlington, VA if the minimum wage became $15 an hour.
News from this survey comes on top of devastating news that the “Fight For $15” campaign has taken steps to join the SEIU, proving that this entire effort is designed to grow union rolls and increase big labor’s political power.
As automation becomes more prevalentas worker wages rise, a $15 minimum wage would slash hours for low-income workers and eliminate jobs altogether. The fact that big labor ignores these very serious economic consequences in order to push their political agenda just proves where their true motives lie.
Given what business owners have said and the facts about how a $15 minimum wage would impact the economy, hopefully today’s hearing shows that raising the minimum wage in D.C. would simply worsen conditions for workers across the city.