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SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 22, 2009
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NEWS ABOUT: minimum wage

minimum wage stories: 13 news summaries

Colorado
Will Lower Minimum Wage

State figure, tied to inflation, will drop
4 cents to $7.24

Oct 13, 09 2:52 PM CDT
(Newser) - Colorado is set to become the first state to lower its minimum wage next year. The state’s minimum wage is tied to local inflation—specifically, the Denver-Boulder-Greeley Consumer Price Index, which has fallen 0.6%. The state’s minimum of $7.28 an hour will fall to $7.24... More »

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inflation • Denver • minimum wage • Colorado • consumer price index

 Minimum Wage Rises to $7.25 

Some say hike will hurt small business; others hold it'll boost economy

Jul 24, 09 11:45 AM CDT
(Newser) - The minimum wage today jumps 70 cents to $7.25 an hour, a move that rekindles a debate as old as the wage itself, notes the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Some worry that the increase puts an unfair burden on small businesses, especially with times so tight; others say low-wage earners will... More »

MORE ABOUT:
minimum wage • wages • recession • circulation • economy

 Tomatoes Bring Fair-Trade 
 Movement Stateside 

Meager pay, slavery conditions for pickers prompt boycott threat

Apr 29, 09 11:01 AM CDT
(Newser) - With tomato pickers earning 45 cents per 32-pound bucket—the same wage as 30 years ago—fair-labor coalitions have long staged protests and boycotts. Now one of the country's biggest food-services companies is taking up the cause, the Washington Post reports. Bon Appetit says that if growers don't agree to... More »

MORE ABOUT:
migrant workers • minimum wage • labor • tomatoes • fair trade • growers • day laborers • Bon Appetit Management

 Striking French Workers 
 Defy Sarkozy 

Nationwide strike cripples transport, shuts schools

Mar 19, 09 9:44 AM CDT
(Newser) - France is in the grip of the second nationwide strike in 2 months today as unions protest the Sarkozy administration's economic policies, reports AFP. Air and rail transport has been disrupted, and half of primary school teachers have not come into work. The strikers are demanding a higher minimum wage,... More »

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Nicolas Sarkozy • France • minimum wage • strike • labor strike

 Calif. Budget Deal 
 Pays '08 Debt 
 With '09 Taxes 

Plan would borrow against next year's taxes to pay state debts

Sep 15, 08 9:21 AM CDT
(Newser) - California lawmakers have finally come to an agreement on the new state budget, ending a stalemate in which Republicans refused to add new taxes and Democrats fought against cutting funding for education and health care. The compromise sees the state using next year's money to pay off its current debts,... More »

MORE ABOUT:
California • taxes • Arnold Schwarzenegger • minimum wage • fiscal imbalance • budget deficit

 Sans Budget,
 Arnold to Slash
 Calif. Workers' Pay 

Gov threatens cut to minimum wage until state passes budget

Jul 24, 08 10:48 AM CDT
(Newser) - Arnold Schwarzenegger is threatening to ease California's cash-flow crisis by slashing the pay of 200,000 state workers to the federal minimum wage of $6.55 an hour, the San Francisco Chronicle reports. A draft executive order obtained by the Chronicle also ends overtime pay for all but emergency employees... More »

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California • California legislature • Arnold Schwarzenegger • minimum wage • budget • wages

 Minimum Wage Gets Bump 

Tomorrow's 70-cent raise to $6.55 could spell job loss for young

Jul 23, 08 2:31 PM CDT
(Newser) - The federal minimum wage will get a 70-cent boost tomorrow to $6.55 an hour, reports the Baltimore Sun, but it's not good news for everyone. The bump will help workers chip away at rising food, gas, and health care costs, raising the annual payoff of a 40-hour work week... More »

MORE ABOUT:
minimum wage • workers • wage increase • federal wage • pay increase

Made in Italy — in a Chinese Sweatshop

Italian luxury goods made by Chinese labor cost 90% less

Feb 20, 08 9:21 AM CST
(Newser) - For consumers of luxury goods, the "Made in Italy" designation remains so prestigious that it can add 300% to an item's price. But the days of artisans plying their trade in little workshops are largely over, the Los Angeles Times reports, replaced by thousands of Tuscan factories employing Chinese... More »

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fashion • Prada • globalization • Italy • minimum wage • Tuscany • luxury goods • manufacturing • sweatshop • Chinese workers • workplace safety

Report: Top Retailers Pay Poverty Wages

H&M, Gap, others mislead public about plight of garment workers in Bangladesh

Sep 14, 07 11:27 AM CDT
(Newser) - On the eve of London fashion week, a new report blasts clothing retailers for turning a blind eye to the poverty-level wages of their workers. Marks&Spencer, H&M, the Gap, and others are singled out for paying garments workers in Bangladesh such low wages that the workers must rely... More »

MORE ABOUT:
fashion • minimum wage • poverty • H and M • The Gap • sweatshop

Edwards Goes All-Out in Courting Labor

Candidate can't count on AFL-CIO but can target individual unions

Aug 7, 07 3:50 PM CDT
(Newser) - Even though he can’t expect broad endorsement, John Edwards is pushing hard for labor support, hoping to rack up the backing of a slew of individual unions. The Washington Post reports ahead of tonight’s AFL-CIO-sponsored Democratic forum that union backing is key to the Southerner’s strategy, even... More »

MORE ABOUT:
John Edwards • John Kerry • unions • minimum wage • labor • universal health care • AFL CIO • NAFTA • Richard Gephardt

McDonald's Plans Raise for Chinese Workers

Union criticism, bad press prompt chain-wide wage hike

Aug 6, 07 7:34 PM CDT
(Newser) - Bowing to pressure from the state labor union and attempting to counter negative publicity, McDonald's will raise wages for its Chinese employees. The fast-food megalith will boost the pay of 45,000 full- and part-time workers by an average of 30%, the Wall Street Journal reports, and issue counter workers... More »

MORE ABOUT:
China • McDonald's • minimum wage • fast food • wages • union

Minimum Wage Rises Today

Federal law mandates 70-cent hike to $5.85, calls for boosts next year and in 2009

Jul 24, 07 7:09 AM CDT
(Newser) - After being frozen for a decade, the federal minimum wage jumps today from $5.15 to $5.85 an hour. It rises to $6.55 a year from today and to $7.25 when the hike is completed in 2009. The change affects only the 20 states that haven't already... More »

MORE ABOUT:
Congress • Democrats • Republican • minimum wage • money • Capitol Hill • small businesses

Congress Hikes Minimum Wage

National minimum
goes to $7.25 by 2009, small business gets
tax breaks

May 25, 07 5:08 AM CDT
(Newser) - Congress has raised the national minimum wage for the first time in 10 years, from $5.15 to $7.25 per hour. The hike, part of a compromise between the White House and Congress over Iraq funding, will take effect in three stages over the next two years. It will... More »

MORE ABOUT:
Congress • Democratic Congress • minimum wage • labor • money • wages

13 Stories


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