Voters to decide if Tucson will be second Arizona city to enact $15 minimum wage | Government-and-politics

[ad_1]

Small businesses in Tucson are still divided over the minimum wage increase. Some of the local businesses that have pledged their support say that employee satisfaction affects the business.

“Every business owner is feeling the pressure to do the payroll, but well-paid workers will add to the bottom line of any business,” said Dwight Metzger, owner of The Gloo Factory, a printing company in South Tucson that starts at $ 15 an hour. “People need to look after themselves at home, people need medical care and the ability to pay their rent in order to show up to work and do a good job.”

However, other business owners have spoken out against the proposal.

“We just can’t afford it,” said Ed Ackerley, owner of Ackerley Advertising and co-president of Tucson Business Owners, Inc. “Many of the businesses in Tucson are suffering from trying to get afloat for the past 18 months to stay.” . To try to come back from downsizing and the tight income and now suddenly to be hit by an hourly wage increase for some companies that could be the last straw. “

Ackerley said his organization was also against the initiative’s proposal to create a city labor standards department to investigate reports of wage violations.

“We are not against a viable wage, we are against the bureaucracy involved,” he said. While his group is currently planning to take legal action against the election initiative, Ackerley said it plans to educate voters before the November elections why this is not the time and place for this type of initiative.

[ad_2]