How Minimum Wage Increases Went Bad in San Francisco, Oakland, Seattle and Beyond
To help the general public understand the reality that “Raising the minimum wage has big consequences for small businesses,” the website “The Faces of $15” (a project of the Employment Policies Institute and MinimumWage.com) highlights “real faces of $15” with real stories of the employers who struggle to survive with significantly higher labor costs from minimum wage hikes:
AFFECTED BUSINESSES:
Abbot’s Cellar
“One of San Francisco’s most-buzzed-about new Mission restaurants is closing its doors at the end of the month, citing the impending minimum-wage hike as its death knell.”
Apparel Manufacturer
This family-run business that contracts to make clothing for a company in San Francisco had to slash staff after Oakland’s minimum wage increased. It used to be the owner and her…
Bocanova
The restaurant’s servers will no longer receive tips. “A note on the menu reads: ‘In lieu of gratuity, a 16% Lift Up Oakland Surcharge & 4% Service Charge will be…
Boot and Shoe Service
The owner raised prices by 16 percent at his three restaurants in Oakland, including Boot and Shoe Service and Pizzaiolo, which were on The Chronicle’s 2014 list of the Bay Area’s…
Booth Memorial Child Development Center-Oakland
“If the Salvation Army can’t scrounge up that [money to cover the wage hike] by writing grants and finding donors, it might have to cut some of its 63 child care…
Borderlands Books
“Alan Beatts was set to close his bookstore this year, in the wake of San Francisco’s plan to hike the city’s minimum wage to $15. But Borderlands Books is getting a…
California Health Institute
In a letter to the New York Times, the owner wrote: “I will be moving my two companies out of Los Angeles when the lease is due to renew. I’ve…
Camino
Other restaurants, such as Homestead, Dopo, Camino in Oakland, and Comal in Berkeley, have used this wage increase to re-format their entire wage structure. All four have eliminated tipping and have incorporated the…
Cascade Designs
The company said it needs to expand, but doing so in the Seattle area is too expensive. The main reason is increasingly expensive real estate, especially for the space it…
Clarion Hotel-Seatac, Washington
“The 215-room Clarion Hotel closed its full-service restaurant in December, laying off 15 people, said general manager Perry Wall. The hotel also let go a night desk clerk and maintenance…
Coffee Shop-Oakland
The owner operated the business with himself and one employee, who he was hoping to keep. Because of the minimum wage increase and a struggling business climate, he had to…
Comix Experience-San Francisco
The bookstore “will soon have to generate an additional $80,000 a year in sales just to meet the [minimum wage] rise. … In order to fully cover the shortfall, we…
Icon Grill-Seattle
Many in the local restaurant industry say the next few weeks and months will give them a better idea of the real impact under the new law. Some bosses have…
Ivar’s Salmon House-Seattle
Ivar’s Salmon House will no longer encourage tipping and will raise the price of all menu items by 21%.
Legendary Palace-Oakland
“[F]our restaurants and six grocery stores in and around Chinatown have already shuttered since January, at least partly for fear that the wage increase was going to put them over…
MasterPark Seatac, Washington
“[T]he company posted that it had raised the wages of all employees, resulting in a 63 percent cost of labor increase, or $1.4 million a year. To absorb this, the…
Pizzaiolo
The owner raised prices by 16 percent at his three restaurants in Oakland, including Pizzaiolo and Boot and Shoe Service, which were on The Chronicle’s 2014 list of the Bay Area’s…
Reaching Beyond Care
“Child-care assistant Eunice Medina, 23, was thrilled when Oakland’s minimum wage took effect in March. But almost as quickly, Medina’s workdays were cut and her hours shaved from eight to…
Seafood Restaurant-Oakland
The owner started his business 8-9 months ago, and used to have three employees (plus himself). Because of the wage hike, he’s had to cut staff down to himself and one other…
Service Station
This family business along 19th Avenue in San Francisco has been operating for 38 years. The owner has traditionally hired eight people to provide full-service to the customers. Because of…
Source
“Source, SoMa’s “multi-dimensional” vegetarian restaurant, has closed its doors, citing the skyrocketing costs of doing business in San Francisco as the nail in its coffin.”
Sterling’s Family Childcare-Oakland
The owner, Muriel Sterling, significantly reduced hours for her employees in response to the wage increase– they were coming in at 7:30 am, and now they come in at 10…
Tamarind Tree-Seatlle
[Owner Tam Nguyen] adds the new minimum-wage law prevents any future growth due to the increased costs of doing business. Being streamlined means cutting the number of employees from over 50 to…
The Walrus and the Carpenter
“Following Ivar’s lead, Renée Erickson is the next to cut tips from her restaurants since Seattle’s new Minimum Wage Ordinance went into effect April 1. Beginning Monday, May 4, The Walrus and…
Z Pizza-Seattle
In August, his boss is shutting down Z Pizza and putting him and his 11 co-workers out of work. … Ritu Shah Burnham doesn’t want to go out of business, but…
Link:
http://www.economicpolicyjournal.com/2015/06/how-minimum-wage-increases-went-bad-in.html
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