Style (times, 12, double space, one page)

After reading/watching the below articles and videos, address the following question:

•    Are you clear where you stand on the debate for raising the minimum wage? 

Resources( not necessary to go over them all):

1.     https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tQE0ldkiKo0&list=PLDmeMSb3xqA9KKZQCZeP-8L-kR0qCiAxJ

2.     https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jqzq5Kxcr7U&list=PLDmeMSb3xqA9KKZQCZeP-8L-kR0qCiAxJ&index=5

3.     https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jjeM-LEy9Z4&index=8&list=PLDmeMSb3xqA9KKZQCZeP-8L-kR0qCiAxJ

4.     The Living Wage Rage

Since President Barack Obama called for a minimum wage increase during his State of the Union remarks back in 2013, 17 states and the District of Columbia have increased their minimum wage— including four states where voters approved minimum wage increases on Election Day in 2014. Cities and counties have also taken action, with 29 local jurisdictions including Berkeley, Calif.; Chicago; Las Cruces, N.M.; and Montgomery County, Md. raising the wage floor.

A number of companies are acting on their own to increase their minimum wage and expand paid leave opportunities. Companies taking steps to this end include Wal-Mart, Disney, Gap, TJX Companies, Target, IKEA, Aetna and Starbucks. In April, Wal-Mart raised its lowest starting wage to $9 per hour, with a promise to raise it to $10 by February 2016. And as for paid leave for employees, Microsoft and Netflix are two companies that recently announced separate plans to give more time off to eligible workers who are new parents, the White House report said.

The “Fight for $15” protests on April 15, 2015, which pressed companies to pay their workers a minimum of $15 per hour, were expected to include 60,000 protesters in 200 cities and 40 countries. The movement has moved beyond just fast-food workers to include retail employees, childcare workers, adjunct professors, home care providers and airport workers.

While the SEIU-funded “Fight for $15” movement took credit for McDonald’s recent raise at its 1,500 restaurants run by company headquarters (though not for employees at its 12,500 franchisees), it simultaneously criticized the raise of just under $10 an hour as a “publicity stunt.”

As for Fight for $15’s accomplishments thus far, the movement is quick to note in its press releases that Seattle and San Francisco have ordinances in place to gradually raise the minimum wage to $15. The goal of the movement is to raise the minimum wage to $15 an hour – it has not been successful, nor has it increased unionization.

Despite the union organizing objectives of the movement, remarkably few representation petitions have been filed seeking union elections in the fast-food industry since the founding of “Fight for $15” movement.

HR professionals should be cognizant of any support for and participation in “Fight for $15” activities among their own employees, as it is certainly an early warning sign of future serious union organizing activity.

5.     ‘Fight for $15’ Protests: Prepare for Stepped-Up Pay Demands By Allen Smith

The “Fight for $15” protests on April 15, 2015, which pressed companies to pay their workers a minimum of $15 per hour, were expected to include 60,000 protesters in 200 cities and 40 countries. The movement has moved beyond just fast-food workers to include retail employees, childcare workers, adjunct professors, home care providers and airport workers.

Molita Spaulding, a home care worker from Miami, said, “I’ve dedicated my career to caring for other people. I love my work, and it matters a lot to a lot of families. But my job pays me so little that it’s harder and harder to make ends meet. I stepped up to join the Fight for $15 with my co-workers to speak out for stable, quality home care [and] a wage we can live on. We help people live with dignity. We should be paid enough to pay our own bills.”

“HR should care because this is the new union movement,” Michael Lotito, an attorney with Littler in San Francisco, told SHRM Online. “It is more credible with the income inequality theme, the new election rules, e-mail use for employees for union activity, new FLSA [Fair Labor Standards Act] rules coming out, micro units and the most activist pro-union NLRB [National Labor Relations Board] in decades, coupled with the last two years of a very friendly administration toward labor.

“The April 15 protests will be worldwide,” he said, continuing with reasons why these particular protests are expected to be so significant: “The recent pay increase announcements [at McDonald’s and Wal-Mart], the April 15 date (for $15), the fact it is on tax day (income inequality) and McDonald’s 60th anniversary suggest this is going to be real big.”

Lotito surmised that “Few employees will participate, but the SEIU [Service Employees International Union] will bring together rent-a-protestors to make the media splashes they are known for. Further, the new NLRB election rules become effective on April 14, so I am anticipating election filings before the NLRB too. Could be a significant zoo.”

‘Nothing Is Ever Enough’

Lotito said, “Much of this is hype. But the SEIU is patient.” He added, “Nothing is ever enough for the SEIU, and they are not known for stopping unless their target punches back hard.”

While the SEIU-funded Fight for $15 movement took credit for McDonald’s recent raise at its 1,500 restaurants run by company headquarters (though not for employees at its 12,500 franchisees), for example, it simultaneously criticized the raise of just under $10 an hour as a “publicity stunt.”

And in talking about Fight for $15 on March 31, 2015, SEIU President Mary Kay Henry said, “I want to share some of the words from leaders who inspired me last night. We heard from courageous workers like Dunkin’ Donuts worker Erica Concepcion, who set the room on fire when she said, ‘I’m fighting for $15 now, but after we win, I’ll be fighting for $20.’ ”

Advice for HR

Lotito remarked that “Most HR professionals have never dealt with union issues. The vast majority of companies have ill-defined supervisors who are not trained and few organizations have done

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vulnerability assessments. The fact that unions have done so little in 20 years has removed them as a legitimate threat for most companies. It is much more likely that an organization has a plan in place for a natural disaster or for an Internet disruption than a labor disruption.”

That said, Lotito cautioned, “At the end of the day, as long as union membership declines, unions will do anything to survive.”

HR should always be aware of “any external group that is trying to influence their workers, or create possible business disruptions via protest actions or work stoppages,” said Michael VanDervort, a member of the Society for Human Resource Management Labor Relations Special Expertise Panel. “The HR function should be preparing their managers, developing labor response plans, and providing training and information to managers on labor issues, especially those related to the NLRB.”

Don Schroeder, an attorney with Mintz Levin in Boston, said the $15 figure for the movement “seemed to come out of thin air, quite frankly.” He added, “I don’t know what the basis is for it other than doubling minimum wage.” The federal minimum wage currently is $7.25 an hour.

Accomplishments

As for Fight for $15’s accomplishments thus far, the movement is quick to note in its press releases that Seattle and San Francisco have ordinances in place to gradually raise the minimum wage to $15.

Still, Schroeder said that if the goal of the movement is to raise the minimum wage to $15 an hour, it has, on the whole, not been successful.

Nor has it increased unionization. Anthony Byergo, an attorney with Ogletree Deakins in Kansas City, Mo., said, “Despite the union organizing objectives of the movement, remarkably few representation petitions have been filed seeking union elections in the fast-food industry since Fight for $15 was founded.” However, Byergo added, “HR professionals should be cognizant of any support for and participation in Fight for $15 activities among their own employees, as it is certainly an early warning sign of future serious union organizing activity.”

Plus, the movement has had some success in increasing minimum wages at the state and local level, “if you believe they’re responsible for that,” Schroeder said.

The Fight for $15 movement notes in a press release: “Since the first fast-food strike in 2012, 9 million low-wage workers have gotten raises through local ballot measures, city and state legislation, contract negotiations, and employer policy changes—more workers than are in private-sector unions in the entire country. The urgent need for solutions to America’s low-wage crisis is already emerging as a key issue in the run-up to the 2016 election.” 

6.     Cities, States Increasing Minimum Wage, Requiring Paid Leave By Joanne Deschenaux

Democrat-backed bills in both the House and the Senate to raise the federal minimum wage to at least $12 per hour from the $7.25 current rate and to require most employers to offer up to seven days of paid sick leave per year are unlikely to move forward in the Republican-controlled Congress.

Faced with this legislative gridlock on the federal level, however, more cities and states are raising their minimum wages and securing paid sick leave for workers, the White House said in a report issued Aug. 18, 2015.

States and Localities Take Action

Since President Barack Obama called for a minimum wage increase during his State of the Union remarks back in 2013, 17 states and the District of Columbia have increased their minimum wage— including four states where voters approved minimum wage increases on Election Day in 2014. Cities and counties have also taken action, with 29 local jurisdictions including Berkeley, Calif.; Chicago; Las Cruces, N.M.; and Montgomery County, Md. raising the wage floor.

“While Congress has stood in the way of addressing these issues, mayors and governors of both parties are working with the president to make progress,” the White House report said.

Rhode Island became the latest state to increase its minimum wage in June when Democratic Gov. Gina M. Raimondo signed legislation raising the pay floor to $9.60 per hour. Meanwhile, some cities, including Los Angeles, San Francisco and Seattle, are set to phase in a $15 minimum wage over the next few years.

Obama has also looked to raise wages at the federal level, signing an executive order that requires contractors to pay their workers at least $10.10 an hour.

Philadelphia and Montgomery County, Md., are among the localities that have recently enacted paid- sick-leave laws. Oregon’s Democratic governor, Kate Brown, signed legislation on June 22, 2015, requiring most employers to offer 40 hours of paid sick time annually.

On the federal level, Obama said he is considering a second executive order mandating at least seven days of paid sick leave for employees of federal contractors.

Companies Also Taking Action

The White House noted that a number of companies are acting on their own to increase their minimum wage and expand paid leave opportunities. Companies taking steps to this end include Wal-Mart, Disney, Gap, TJX Companies, Target, IKEA, Aetna and Starbucks.

In April, Wal-Mart raised its lowest starting wage to $9 per hour, with a promise to raise it to $10 by February 2016.

And as for paid leave for employees, Microsoft and Netflix are two companies that recently announced separate plans to give more time off to eligible workers who are new parents, the White House report said.