Murphy, Coughlin Tout Support for $15 Minimum Wage; Business, Industry Group: ‘Consider the Impact’

NEW BRUNSWICK – Recognizing the need for working families to receive livable wages, Gov. Phil Murphy and Speaker Craig Coughlin toured Elijah’s Promise Sept. 7 and expressed their support for a $15 minimum wage.
“Adjusted for cost of living, New Jersey’s minimum wage is the fifth-most insufficient in the nation,” stated Murphy in a release.
“That is unacceptable. New Jerseyans should not have to live paycheck to paycheck, in some cases deciding between whether to put food on the table or keep the lights on. The path to a stronger and fairer New Jersey includes raising the minimum wage to $15 an hour and ensuring fairness and opportunity for everyone in our state.”
“Anyone working hard at a full-time job should, at the least, be able to provide their family with the basics — a roof over their family’s head, food on the table and clothes on their back,” stated Assembly Speaker Craig Coughlin.
“I am committed to ramping up the minimum wage to $15 and will continue to work with my caucus, Senate President Sweeney and Gov. Murphy on a responsible path towards raising the wages and standard of living for working, middle-class New Jerseyans.”
“I am looking forward to working with Gov. Murphy and Speaker Coughlin to see that New Jersey increases the minimum wage to $15 an hour,” stated Senate President Steve Sweeney. “It is the right thing to do for working people and the smart thing to do for the economy.”
By raising the minimum wage to $15, Murphy believes the state can grow and protect the middle class and working families. These efforts to empower workers in our state will boost productivity and grow the economy, the release continued.
Elijah’s Promise is committed to ending hunger, providing education and jobs in the food industry, and offering social services to those in need.
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New Jersey Business and Industry Association (NJBIA) President and CEO Michele N. Siekerka issued the following release regarding the Sept. 6 press conference by Gov. Murphy on increasing New Jersey’s minimum wage to $15 an hour:
“Any pathway to raising the minimum wage must take into consideration the impact these actions will have on our small business owners, who are the backbone of our communities and our downtowns.
“Many of our members have already told us they will not be able to absorb a significant increase in the minimum wage without reducing staff, hours or benefits, raising prices or automating. As such, and as we heard in today’s press conference, the pathway must be a gradual phased-in one affording our job creators predictability and the ability to keep up with the continuing rising costs of running their business.
“Further, raising the rate at the entry level means resetting the rate for other workers across the board. Concerns about wage compression are real and can create inequitable pay differentials between low-skilled workers and trained or experienced ones.
“Finally, because higher skill levels demand higher wages, NJBIA strongly feels that job training should be a key aspect in any discussion regarding increasing the minimum wage.
“NJBIA will continue to advance a dialogue that calls for a gradual phase-in of any increase and appropriate exemptions to address youth and training wages, as well as various industry sectors that will be hard pressed to carry the burden of the cost increase.”