A federal judge has rejected a lawsuit filed by Colorado rafting companies seeking to block a new rule that raised the minimum wage for federal contractors to $15 an hour.
“We will appeal and continue to press forward,” said Duke Bradford, the owner of Arkansas Valley Adventures who joined the Colorado River Outfitters Association in suing the federal government in December over the new wage rule.
Bradford and the association argued that the wage spike for rafting guides who operate on federal land could raise the cost of rafting trips across the country. They argued that President Joe Biden overstepped his authority by not running the wage hike through Congress and that his executive order issued last year was “arbitrary and capricious.”
U.S. District Judge Philip Brimmer this week dismissed the lawsuit, ruling that since Bradford and the outfitters association “have not shown a likelihood of success on the merits of any of their claims, they have failed to demonstrate a ‘clear and unequivocal’ right to relief.”
This wage fight started in February 2014, when President Barack Obama issued an executive order establishing a minimum wage of $10.10 for federal contractors. In 2018, President Donald Trump used an executive order to exempt “seasonal recreational services” workers, like hunting, fishing and rafting guides, arguing the minimum wage hike “threatens to raise significantly the cost of guided hikes and tours on federal lands.”
In April 2021, Biden revoked Trump’s...
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