Florida passed a law to incrementally achieve $15 an hour by 2026, exciting workers but driving fear into small business who worry they’ll pay the cost
I have a question for Andrena Curtis.
How much is a dollar?
It’s a simple question that she has no problem answering.
A dollar is 100 pennies. Twenty nickels. Ten dimes. Four quarters. Or any combination of pennies, nickels, dimes and quarters that total 100 cents.
That question, and my next, are lead-ups to the question I’m really here to ask.
What is the value of a dollar to you?
“What do you mean?” she answers with her own questions. “A dollar is a dollar, right?”
I am talking to Curtis, a $10 (8.80) an hour clothing processor at Goodwill retail store and donation center in Perry, Florida, and her co-worker, Kristina Smith. I want to know the real value of a dollar to workers and families who count and depend on every dollar they earn. So I pose a hypothetical question: if you received a dollar-an-hour pay increase, how would it affect your life?
Smith, who works part-time, 20 hours each week, wastes no time explaining the impact of the extra $16 she would bring home each week after taxes. “It means a little more gas in my tank and a little more food on my table. Any little bit helps.”
Smith continues: “We’re getting a dollar raise when the minimum wage goes up to $11, and I think it’s about time. We work hard, and I didn’t think it was fair that other people were making all this money, and the people who were working...
PICKENS, S.C. — Pickens city councilmembers determined Mayor Isaiah Scipio acted out of procedure following a tense executive session on Tuesday, while leaving ongoing disputes concerning SLED and...