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Not all student employees feel wage increase's bump

October 5, 2014
<p>International relations sophomore John Elias takes a pizza out of the oven Sept. 29, 2014, at Case Hall Sparty's. "I feel like it's a step in the right direction, but further progress needs to be made," Elias said. Dylan Vowell/The State News.</p>

International relations sophomore John Elias takes a pizza out of the oven Sept. 29, 2014, at Case Hall Sparty's. "I feel like it's a step in the right direction, but further progress needs to be made," Elias said. Dylan Vowell/The State News.

Photo by Dyan Vowell | The State News

For the first time in more than five years, minimum wage workers are making more.

Spurred by the activist group Raise Michigan, the Michigan legislature replaced the old minimum wage law on Sept. 1. The new law raises minimum wage from $7.40 to $8.15 an hour and is set to increase to $9.25 by 2018.

John Elias is a sophomore majoring in international relations. He has worked at the Case Hall Sparty’s for about a year and a half and received several pay increases during that time.

Because the new law will not increase the wages of workers who make more than $8.15 an hour, Elias’ wages won’t increase.

Elias said his promotions “basically are nullified because incoming employees who have just started are getting paid, generally speaking, the same I am even after my first promotion.”

He said the 75 cent increase in wages was “negligible,” at least for him, but he thinks the increase in minimum wage was an essential move to help students.

Residential and Hospitality Services Communications Manager Kat Cooper said RHS raised its minimum wages in order to comply with the law. She said the phenomenon of new hires being paid nearly the same as long-term employees is known as compression. There is currently not a plan to address that issue. However, Cooper said RHS is adapting to the change in wages well.

MSU economics professor Charles Ballard said because the average wage earner makes more than $20 an hour, most people will not be affected by the minimum wage increase.

The additional 75 cents per hour may not seem like a lot to many people, Ballard said.

“If you’re working full-time year round, that would put an extra $1,500 in your pocket,” said Ballard. “That’s substantial if the minimum wage worker is the main breadwinner in the family.”

Ballard does not believe the increased cost of labor will affect prices significantly. For example, if the price of a hamburger goes up, it will be even less than the 10 percent increase in minimum wage.

Because RHS is a self-sustaining unit of the university, Cooper said wage increases could effect prices at Sparty’s.

“I don’t think there have been any specific price increases based on this particular legislation and this going into effect, at least none that I’m aware of,” said Cooper. “But certainly in aggregate, over the long term, things like this do have an effect on our prices.”

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