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Wage hike: 40 cents per By Sean Wolfe Ashland Daily Tidings The new year brought a new wage level to the state's lowest-paid workers, as Oregon's first hike in the minimum wage since 1999 took effect at midnight January 1. The wage hike, which raised minimum wage 40 cents from $6.50 to $6.90 per hour was opposed at the polls by restaurant, small business, food service and industrial interest groups. Nonetheless, the measure passed in the Nov. 5 general election by a slim margin of some 33,300 votes. In Jackson County, the measure was voted for overwhelmingly by a 20 percent margin. SOU student Ashlee Farmer makes coffee in the Stevenson union, a minimum wage job that is getting a hike and must be absorbed campus-wide. Ashland Daily Tidings/DENISE BARATTA Perhaps the biggest impact in Ashland will be felt by the Southern Oregon University student population. Currently, SOU employs roughly 500 students - with heavy concentrations in computer services, food service and the library. Because the hike arrives in the middle of the school year, SOU's Vice President for Administration and Finance Ron Bolstad said the wage hike will have to be absorbed by individual departments, which could cause a number of students to have their hours scaled back. "The timing is very regrettable," Bolstad said. "We projected that for the general fund departments, it would cost them about $10,000 to cover the shortfall. Campus-wide for all departments, that's more like $20,000. When we're already reducing budgets on the general fund side, this is just another complication. Unfortunately, what may well happen since this is occurring mid-year, and we have a given amount of budget for student pay, departments employing students may well have to cut back on their hours." Gene Landsmann, marketing director for Mt. Ashland Ski Area, said - at its peak - the resort employs some 140 minimum wage workers. Landsmann said the wage increase was already made retroactive. "Our payroll is every two weeks, and there were three or four days from the previous year. We could have been skimpy, but it was still the holidays, and why do that? We rely on these people - they should rely on us," Landsmann said. According to Landsmann, the ski area is hoping to have a good season, so belt-tightening next year won't be necessary. "So far we're doing very well, and if the trend continues there won't be a need to cut back. We don't want to cut back our services, but we're not a rich company," Landsmann said. The minimum wage hike continues to face opposition from interest groups and some policy organizations. Bill Ihly, a spokesman for one of the valley's largest employers - Medford-based Bear Creek Corp. - said his company felt no impact from the wage increase, as all of its employees made more than $6.90. That sentiment was echoed by Ashland-based Pro-Tool - better known as Drill Doctor. Drill Doctor, which recently finished its Christmas rush, recently laid off 100 temporary workers, who are paid $7.75 for day-shift work, and 10 percent more for night shift. It's a cycle the company goes through annually, as they hire temporary workers to ramp up holiday production, then lay them off at the end of the holidays. "We watch the wage level, but there was no need to take any action. Everyone here is paid at a significantly higher level," noted Drill Doctor Director of Administration Steve Rissler. Ashland Community Food Store also avoided being forced by the new state law to hike wages to its employees by doing it themselves. According to outreach coordinator Annie Hoy, the store decided in November to raise its starting wage from $6.50 to $7.50. The move was initiated by ACFS General Manager Richard Katz, who took the proposal to the store's board, which approved it overwhelmingly. "We felt that $6.50 wasn't enough for a starting wage, especially in Ashland, and that even with the new minimum wage range, wasn't enough. So we had a good year, and we wanted to share that with our employees," Hoy said. Tom Dilworth, research director for Washington DC-based Employment Policy Institute, said wage hikes in Oregon do benefit some groups, but expressed concern that many are being left out. "I'm just not sure that minimum wage increases are targeted to the people that most need them. In Oregon, for example, only 13.2 percent of the people impacted by the wage hike are single parents with kids. Sixty to eighty percent of the people who benefit from the hike are living with parents, are dual-earners, or are single with no kids. So if your target is to help families who are struggling, the minimum wage is a pretty blunt instrument," Dilworth said. 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