ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Saturday, May 4, 1996 TAG: 9605060009
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: A-6 BUSINESS EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: JEFF STURGEON STAFF WRITER
EVEN IF MINIMUM WAGE is raised, it will only affect a small minority of businesses.
Despite continuing flare-ups in Washington Friday over the prospect of raising the minimum wage, the issue raises only a flicker of concern in the Roanoke region.
In the event Congress ultimately approves raising the legal minimum wage from $4.25 to $5.15 an hour, it would affect a small number of area workers and companies, labor and business officials said.
With a few exceptions, wages in the region already run higher than the proposed new minimum being pushed by President Clinton and Democrats and opposed by Senate Majority Leader Bob Dole.
Dole predicted Friday that Congress will raise the minimum wage, although perhaps not as much as Democrats want.
In Washington, Democrats used the anniversary of a minimum wage hike 35 years ago to crank up pressure on the issue.
Officials say discussions are under way to permit Congress to vote soon on a wage increase, possibly in connection with Dole's call for repealing the 4.3 cents-per-gallon rise in the gasoline tax that Democrats passed in 1993. The proposed first increase in the minimum wage since 1989 would be phased in over two years.
In communities such as the Roanoke Valley with strong labor markets, the major impact may be from workers already paid more than the old minimum wage. They would clamor for raises to stay equally above the new minimum, said Tom Dilworth, a policy analyst with the Employment Policies Institute, a business-backed think tank in Washington, D.C.
That would be fine with Mary Houska, a retired Hollins College professor and labor economist, who said statistics show that workers are long due to be rewarded for productivity gains.
But Tom Brock, former chairman of the Roanoke Regional Chamber of Commerce and now a head of the New Century Council, said he knew of few workers and companies with a direct stake in the debate.
"If we create the jobs, this minimum-wage thing doesn't even get on our radar screen," he said. "The demand for jobs goes up and suddenly, the last thing you're worried about is the floor."
"The market's already taken care of the issue," said Bruce Wood of Management Association of Western Virginia, a Roanoke-based nonprofit group. "Employers obviously are having trouble finding people at $4.25 and are advertising at $5 when officially, legally, they don't have to pay more" than the current minimum.
Even for jobs considered low paying, such as fast food and security, the Virginia Employment Commission recently found that the average minimum hourly pay was $5.23 an hour. The average minimum hourly pay was $6.81 for all openings the Roanoke VEC advertised from July 1 to March 31, a total of nearly 6,000 jobs, said Marjorie Skidmore, the office's job service manager.
The wages for advertised jobs are one of the best gauges of wages employers currently are paying. The precise number of area workers receiving an hourly wage of $5.15 or less is not available.
No one denies that some area employers still pay at or near the minimum wage. For them, a minimum wage hike would represent a significant added expense. But they represent a slim minority.
Area wages have climbed in recent years, even for entry-level, because workers have more jobs to choose from and employers must pay more to get the workers they need.
Despite this, the Virginia AFL-CIO and other unions support raising the minimum wage.
"Employers have been able to absorb reasonable increases in the minimum wage every time it's been done," said Walter Wise, president of the Roanoke United Central Labor Council.
LENGTH: Medium: 77 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: AP. 1. Sen. Edward Kennedy, D-Mass. (left), leads aby CNBCapitol Hill news conference Friday, calling for a raise in the
minimum wage. According to a recent poll, Americans favor an
increase in the minimum wage. 2. (headshot) Houska. Graphic: Chart
by AP: Minimum wage increase.