WORCESTER ― The state rang in the new year with a minimum wage bump to $15 last Sunday, reaching the finish line of the so-called “grand bargain” - a 2018 state law that increased the minimum wage by $4 in five years.
Starting in 2019, when the Massachusetts' minimum wage was $12 per hour, the rate has risen in 75-cent increments each Jan. 1, concluding this year when it reached $15 per hour.
The current statewide minimum hourly wage of $15 translates to $31,200 a year for someone working a full 40-hour workweek.
For service workers who make more than $20 a month in tips, the minimum wage is $6.75, up from $6.10 last year and $4.35 in 2019.
But not everyone is happy.
Local businesses have often seen the minimum wage increase as a financial strain, although for workers, the wages are still not enough to cover living expenses.
Christopher Carlozzi, the Massachusetts state director for the National Federation of Independent Business, believes that while the minimum wage increase means more money for employees, the legislation added to business owners’ struggles with higher costs tied to inflation.
“The cost-of-labor rise doesn’t mute the pain for business owners who sometimes pay more than $18 to retain workers,” said Carlozzi. “A $15 minimum wage puts more money in the pockets of employees, but that has played into inflation, with living and food costs rising.
“Legislators need to take a pause. It’s been a very tough couple of years for business owners, with many of them...
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