Minimum wage increases to $9.04 per hour

MOSES LAKE - Washington state's minimum wage increases by 4.258 percent, or 37 cents, to $9.04 per hour on Sunday.

The increase is due to the requirements of voter-approved Initiative 688.

The initiative was passed by voters in 1998 and requires that agricultural and non-agricultural workers be paid a wage to keep up with the rising cost of food, clothing, shelter, fuel and doctor visits, according to the state Department of Labor and Industries.

Both in 2011 and 2012, Washington pays the highest minimum wage in the country, with Oregon coming in second.

Among Moses Lake residents, reactions are mixed about whether the increase is too much or not enough.

Len Seltz, owner of Taco Time and Dody's restaurant in Moses Lake, said the people the initiative was supposed to help actually hurt them.

His current employees have take on more duties to offset the workers he isn't able to hire.

It is difficult to hire younger workers with the increase, due to hour and duty restrictions that are already in place.

"We aren't hiring anyone without a serious background screening now," he said. "We're just reluctant to hire."

The requirements of the current minimum wage limits what he can do for his good workers, Seltz says.

Today workers must respond faster and do more at this wage, he said.

Robert Brockman, of Moses Lake, said the wage increase doesn't affect him because he's unemployed.

"I would tend to say it's too low because of the expense of living," Brockman said.

Scott Kilpatrick, financial manager of the Moses Lake Food Bank, said he thinks it's a good thing minimum wage is increasing, but he's not sure if it will impact people's lives.

"If they couldn't afford to buy food before the increase, it won't make a significant difference in their ability to buy food now," Kilpatrick said.

He mentioned the lack of good paying jobs in the area and that few minimum wage employees work a 40-hour week.

Retiree Alvin Burgess, of Moses Lake, said he knows smaller businesses are going to "holler" about the increase.

"It is going to make it a little tougher on them," Burgess said. "Hopefully it will spur the economy a little bit so people will spend money."

Burgess worked at a Moses Lake dairy processing plant for 28 years and then sold real estate with his son, retiring in 1996.

Debbie Doran-Martinez, executive director of the Moses Lake Chamber of Commerce, said the increase eliminates teenage job opportunities.

"Where they might have been inclined to bring a youngster in and train them, it's now very difficult to justify that level of training," she said.

Bruce Beckett, government affairs director of the Washington Restaurant Association, said the wage accelerates on the index of prices in large urban areas, which isn't reflective of Washington state.

Washington state is one of seven states in the nation that doesn't allow any portion of tips to be credited against wages, Beckett said.

The association is looking at a training program where someone could come in at less than the state's minimum wage for a defined period of time.

For example, a young person who cannot legally work with meat cutters might be allowed to do so with the proper certification, he said.

There are bills pending in the legislature to allow training wages for certain jobs, not just in the restaurant industry, he explained.

In 2012, 14 and 15 year olds can be paid 85 percent of the adult minimum wage, or $7.68, according to the state Department of Labor and Industries.

For more information, visit Wages.Lni.wa.gov or call 360-902-5316 or 1-866-219-7321.