At a Salt Lake City food pantry Tuesday, Mayne and others rallied for an increase in the minimum wage as families struggling to make ends meet picked up donated turkeys and soda pop. In January, he will introduce legislation to increase the wage in Utah from $5.15 - the federal level - to $7 an hour.
"It's sound economic policy. It's pro-family. How would you like to be a legislator who would oppose a pro-family piece of legislation in Utah?" Mayne said, even while acknowledging that the effort faces a tough fight in the Legislature.
Mayne said his proposal is the first of its kind in the state, although 15 states and the District of Columbia have raised their minimum wages above the federal level.
Advocates for the working poor argue that the current minimum wage is insufficient to feed a family and isn't even keeping pace with inflation. Raising the wage to $7 would still put it below what it was in 1968, which was $7.44 when adjusted to 2005 dollars.
"The purpose of the minimum wage was to end starvation wages and provide a fair day's pay for a fair day's work. Right now, someone working at minimum wage is not earning a fair day's pay," said George Neckel, director of Utah Jobs with Justice. "Somebody working hard full time and doing everything right should not be living in poverty."
In Utah, 19,000 workers earn at or below minimum wage and an additional 103,000 earn less than $7.15 an hour, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics and the Utah Department of Workforce Services.
Mayne acknowledged it would be difficult to win legislative passage for the raise. The Legislature has typically sided with business on such issues. Many businesses argue that an increase in labor costs would have to be absorbed by consumers and employees, who might lose benefits or be laid off.
But Mayne is hopeful that he'll gain support from Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr., who has expressed an interest in raising the minimum wage and created a working group earlier this year to study the issue. Pamela Atkinson, chair of the working group, said she has a draft of recommendations for the governor but more research needs to be done.
Sen. Peter Knudson, majority leader, doubts the bill will pass.
"That has not been part of our legislative interest," Knudson said. "We have many small businesses in Utah that operate on a very thin profit margin. . . . You impose a minimum wage at the level that has been suggested [and] they start cutting back on the number of employees or they don't hire at all."
Melva Sine, president and chief executive of the Utah Restaurant Association, said her organization opposes an increase in minimum wage.
"The impact is either going to be a loss of benefits for employees or less employees because you've only got so much of the pie that you can pay out for your labor force. Something's got to give," Sine said.
Jim Olsen, executive vice president of the Utah Retail Merchants Association, said he hasn't seen the legislation yet, but the association probably would oppose it.
Mayne rejects his opponents' economic arguments. He says increasing wages will stimulate the economy and reduce the tax burden on business owners who pay for government assistance to low-income workers regardless of what they pay their own employees. And the Department of Workforce Services has predicted that jobs lost because of a minimum wage increase can largely be absorbed by Utah's strong job growth rate.
Tony Caputo, owner of Tony Caputo Market & Deli, said he supports raising the minimum wage. He already pays his workers at least 30 percent above the minimum because it allows him to retain workers longer and reduce turnover costs. At the eight-year-old business, employees have been there an average of four years.
"I can't afford to not pay people more than minimum wage. . . . My business is worth more to me than to be losing people monthly," Caputo said. "People deserve to get a wage they can live on."
rwinters@sltrib.com
