The Arizona minimum wage has been raised by $0.65 to $12.80, based on the increased inflation between August 2020 and August 2021. While some business owners seem fine with the current minimum wage, some employees believe it needs to be raised.
Arizona’s business owners seem fine with the wage being raised at its current rate. Jim Capin, co-owner of the True Value hardware store in Green Valley, has noted being used to the recent rise in wages.
“The minimum wage in Arizona has gone up over the years. It’s been part of our business for a long time, you just have to adjust for it,” Capin said.
Capin also noted that he personally finds the minimum wage in Arizona “obsolete” as a concept. This is because national companies have starting pay rates higher than the current minimum wage. He says that ultimately the increased minimum wage is the result of a labor shortage but that the willingness of certain businesses to pay more for labor is good for those entering the workforce.
Mitch Goldberg, the COO of Beginner’s Edge Sports Training, is fine with the current minimum wage but has issues with the continual raising of the wage.
Goldberg says as wages rise, he will change the price of services accordingly to maintain a profit, which could lead to a decrease in customers. “For us that could translate into making less money, cause people are not willing to pay more money for the same service cause, we’re not a necessity, we’re a commodity and a luxury for some,” Goldberg said.
In addition to being detrimental to his clientele, Goldberg believes the further increases in wages will add as well to the amount demanded by prospective employees.
“That means our workforce that we get to tap into, they’re gonna have higher requirements in terms of pay in order to compensate themselves for drive time and the price of gas,” he said.
Goldberg takes issue with the continuous raising of the wage partially because he believes his lower-income jobs are meant for “additional money, not living wages.”
Goldberg says he will ultimately be fine with whatever wage laws are enacted and he will adjust accordingly.
“Our business runs based on whatever politically is going on and whatever laws are brought down are brought down. So we live within whatever constraints are provided to us and one of those is the minimum wage law,” he said.
From the perspective of workers, however, the Arizona minimum wage has not increased enough. Target employee and ASU student, Brandon Hanks, makes around $15 an hour and believes this is what the minimum wage should be.
Juliette Clermont, a recent graduate of ASU, cited the increase in the wage as a positive due to the rising prices but also believed the amount was not enough due to her own experiences in the workplace.
“I worked at a hospital providing food to patients for above minimum wage at $14.25 an hour and it was hell,” she said.
Clermont cited the essential nature of food service workers as a reason they should have their wages increased, noting that any service that provides food, whether it is a hospital or a restaurant, needs those workers in order to function properly. She also believes workers should disclose their wages to co-workers in order to make sure they are both paid the same for the same amount of work.
Clermont currently works for the City of Casa Grande at $22.50 an hour, the first job she took after graduating. While Clermont believes that jobs requiring a degree should pay more than those that do not, she also believes essential workers deserve livable wages. “$12.80 is not enough, Arizona. $14.25 was not enough either,” Clermont said.
Clermont is not the only worker in Arizona who believes the minimum wage should be a living wage. Simur Khurana, a student who also works as a receptionist at the housing office in Taylor Place has also stated similar beliefs.
Khurana believes that student employees working for ASU likely do not use their wages to sustain themselves, but expressed concern for minimum wage workers who are living off the income from their jobs.
“Right now, I don’t see how minimum wage is possibly sustainable in the current economic market, especially if you’re trying to start a family or have others who depend on you,” Khurana said.
Khurana acknowledges the problem is difficult to resolve due to wage increases being tied to prices rising but maintains that it is important for the minimum wage to also be a living wage.
Other student workers at ASU believe more compensation for their own work is apt on the basis of a large amount of traffic they get. One such student worker is Joanna Parten, an employee for the Starbucks located at the front of Taylor Place.
Parten mentioned the need to accommodate a large number of people based on her work’s proximity to various campus locations. “We have to serve the entire community around us; law students, work buildings, news areas, and the dorms on top, so we definitely need it [the minimum wage] a lot higher,” Parten said.
As the price of living continues to grow, it is important to account for inflation, but also the fact that workers will want to be compensated accordingly as the prices rise.
Contact the reporter kerasmu1@asu.edu.
