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Minimum wage hike is 'well-timed'
(Daily Oklahoman, The (KRT) Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) Jul. 25--Thursday's hike in the minimum wage to $6.55 an hour from $5.85 isn't likely to markedly affect the majority of state employers and workers.
"For Oklahoma, this probably isn't going to have much impact," said Oklahoma City University economist Steve Agee. The state's low unemployment rate forces employers to go above the minimum wage to hire and retain workers, he said.
"We have a market wage rate that is higher than the minimum wage."
Oklahoma's unemployment rate in June was 4.2 percent, the Oklahoma Employment Security Commission said. Also in June, the Oklahoma City metro area gained 800 jobs, giving the area a total nonfarm employment of 577,100. From June 2007 to this year, the metro area gained 9,300 jobs, the OESC said.
OU student benefits
Brett Burch, a summer camp counselor at the Norman YMCA, knows all about the minimum wage increase. For him, the increase is tacked onto his minimum wage salary; he just wishes it were a bit more.
"If it was more, it would be nice," Burch said, "but this raise is progress.
"It's a lot better than it used to be," said the 20-year-old junior at the University of Oklahoma. "You have to work more than 40 hours to get a good paycheck, especially if you add up gas and bills."
In theory, "There are winners and losers when you get an increase in the minimum wage," said Oklahoma Employment Security Commission economist Lynn Gray. With the bump up in pay, "You tend to see a reduction in employment."
And employers who don't trim their work force may opt instead to cut hiring, as increased wages also affect federal taxes and workers' compensation expenses.
In Oklahoma, jobs that many associate with the bottom of the pay scale are already earning workers on average more than the latest hike, Gray said.
The statewide average wage rate for entry level food prep and serving workers, including those working for fast- food employers, is $6.94 an hour. In the Oklahoma City area, the average hourly wage for a fast food cook is $7.39, a short order cook's average wage is $7.59 and the average hourly wage for a dishwasher is $7.05, he said.
In the metro area construction industry, a roofer helper earns an average hourly wage of $9.93 and a construction laborer receives $11.49 an hour, he said. A maid or housekeeping cleaner in the metro area makes an average hourly wage of $7.84.
At construction firm Flintco Inc., "We've been above that wage for years," said Ronnie Peace, vice president of management operations. Even entry level positions provide a wage higher than the minimum, he said. "An unskilled laborer can make between $10 and $12 an hour."
Earning more pay
Locally based Sonic Corp.'s franchisees and the fast-food chain's operating subsidiary, Sonic Restaurants Inc., both "employ people at and above the minimum wage level, based on performance and local prevailing wage rates," said communications director Christie Woodworth.
Retailing giant Wal-Mart Stores Inc. already pays employees above the minimum wage, spokeswoman Daphne Moore said. "All our jobs pay more, even entry level," she said. In Oklahoma, the company employs about 33,000 people, and the average wage for full-time hourly associates is $10.31 an hour.
After last year's minimum wage increase, there was little resistance from businesses, said Mike Seney, senior vice president of operations at the state Chamber of Commerce. And so far, Seney said he hasn't received a single call on this year's increase. Business owners are likely to accept the increase and move on, he added.
Yet with the prices of food and gasoline increasing, the minimum wage increase is "well timed" for the employees it does affect, he said.
Contributing: Business Writers Jennifer Palmer and Monica Albert
To see more of The Oklahoman, or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.newsok.com.
Copyright (c) 2008, The Oklahoman
Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services.
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