Proponents of the $15 minimum wage have scorned stories of small business closures in San Francisco and Seattle as mere scare tactics. They’ve reassured the public that there is no truth to negative economic forecasts, dismissing small business closures as unrelated to the debate. But, $15 minimum wage advocates cannot ignore stories like that of Ritu Shah Burnham, owner Z Pizza in Seattle.
Due to the rise in labor costs, Burham cannot stay in business. Burham says she has exhausted her options in attempts to make ends meet given the new cost burden of the $15 minimum wage. Via Q13 Fox News,
“I’ve let one person go since April 1, I’ve cut hours since April 1, I’ve taken them myself because I don’t pay myself,” she says. “I’ve also raised my prices a little bit, there’s no other way to do it.”
Though Burham only employs 12 people, her small businesses—which is part of the Z Pizza franchise—is treated like a large business (classified as more than 500 employees) under Seattle’s discriminatory $15 minimum wage law. That means Burham is on the two-year fast track for phasing in a $15 per hour wage for her employees—a track that she cannot keep up with.
Burham’s employees will be out of jobs—a prospect that has employee Devin Jeran questioning how the $15 minimum wage has made life better for him. Jeran told Q13 Fox News, “If that’s the truth, I don’t think that’s very apparent. People like me are finding themselves in a tougher situation than ever.”
For her part, Burham is “absolutely terrified” for her employees’ future job opportunities. She said, “I have no idea where they’re going to find jobs, because if I’m cutting hours, I imagine everyone is across the board.”
One person who is not concerned over Burham’s closure and her employees’ job losses is the director of 15 Now in Seattle, Jess Spear—Spear ran for the Washington State Legislature as a Socialist and lost. Like $15 minimum wage advocates have done time and time again, Spear dismissed the closure saying: “Restaurants open and close all the time, for various reasons.”
People that have never had employees telling those with employees how things work. A special kind of stupid.
Due to the rise in labor costs, Burham cannot stay in business. Burham says she has exhausted her options in attempts to make ends meet given the new cost burden of the $15 minimum wage.
So, which journalists at Fox News audited her books, to confirm her claim? Or did the crack accountants here at ShiftWA do it?
(Crickets…)
But, $15 minimum wage advocates cannot ignore stories like that of Ritu Shah Burnham, owner Z Pizza in Seattle.
Sure we can. Just as you opponents of our high minimum wage persistently ignore stories of new jobs being created here in Seattle. (Expedia? Never heard of them!) Just as you ignore how Z Pizza in San Francisco is doing just fine. Just as you ignored the part of Spear’s quote you didn’t happen to like:
My full comment was, “Restaurants open and close all the time, for various reasons, and there are something like 30+ new restaurants that have opened since the beginning of the year.”
Don’t worry, though: there are a few places here and there for the Z Pizza employees to go:
Mod Pizza has so many positions it’s having a hiring event.
Amante Pizza on Capitol Hill is hiring drivers, cooks, and servers.
Belltown Pizza is hiring a pizza cook.
Elemental Pizza is hiring a pizza cook in U Village.
Slices on Alki is hiring a pizza cook.
Mioposto is opening a third location and hiring a pizza cook.
Zeeks Pizza is hiring servers, cooks, and every other position at all 7 Seattle locations.
A Capitol Hill pizza place is hiring an order taker.
Pagliacci Pizza is hiring drivers & crew at 5 different Seattle locations.
Jet City Pizza is hiring a kitchen helper.
Roccos in Belltown is hiring a pizza cook.
Zaw Pizza is hiring delivery drivers.
Ballard Pizza Company is hiring a pizza cook.
The Alibi Room isn’t really a pizza place, but they’re hiring a pizza cook too.
Don’t worry about it Hamster Brain, you never had lunch there anyways so what does it matter to you. Liberal Jackass.
So, you think that Burnham, that has put in more time and money into their business than all of her employees combined just wants to throw that all out the window as a publicity stunt?? Wow… and you call conservatives ignorant…
No, I think there were other factors involved, and she’s avoiding taking full responsibility by putting all of the blame on something she already didn’t like. As I previously mentioned, she hasn’t opened her business’s books to inspection, so we have only her say-so. And she does not seem to know much about the local pizza business:
For her part, Burham is “absolutely terrified” for her employees’ future job opportunities. She said, “I have no idea where they’re going to find jobs, because if I’m cutting hours, I imagine everyone is across the board.”
I’ve already here copied from Working Washington a list of openings in the local pizza business. Just last week, there were more such local jobs offered than Z Pizza currently employs in Seattle(!).
Z Pizza sits across Broadway from Seattle Central Community College. If her sole reason for closing was, “It’s just too hard to get college students to eat pizza,” would you have believed her?
“Restaurants open and close all the time, for various reasons.” sounds like a true liberal politician, not a care in the world for the business or it’s employees… only their job…
Jess Spear mentioned some of the many jobs created in Seattle this year; although the anonymous poster here ignored that part of Spear’s quote, I provided it in this comment thread.
If your ideology does not permit you to know that states which have raised minimum wages have seen more job growth than states with lower minimum wages, that’s nobody’s problem but your own. Please do not blame the rest of us for your self-required, self-maintained ignorance.
Job growth is not indicative of minimum wage, if you think that is true, you drink a special kind of Kool-Aid…
Higher minimum wages kill those jobs at the entry point… there are less jobs available to pay those that want to learn to work, and more people go onto the government welfare roles because of it. Which means higher taxes, and less freedom, I realize you probably don’t care about that though.
I do care that you listed an entire series of cause and effect without a single example of it ever actually having happened anywhere. When you can tell me how Seattle’s economy continues to create jobs, from Amazon to Expedia to a new warehouse to new restaurants, all as our minimum wage rises, then we might have a reason to believe you. Until then, you’re just spouting more empty talking points.
When economy’s are dependent on minimum wage jobs then you would also have an argument, EVERYTHING that you have pretty much stated is not a minimum wage job…
Tell me though, what company and how many employees do you have and how much do you pay them per hour? And you are giving no examples so why are my “empty talking points” any different than yours?? I have owned businesses and had employees, I know what it costs, overhead is insane, starting a company now is almost ludicrous if you don’t have a lot of money behind it.
You have given no examples of similar companies like hers that are in the same boat…
Even taking two businesses in teh same field does not mean their costs, product, or cost to produce is the same, otherwise Chevy’s and Mercedes would cost the same, and GM cost per employee is more… explain that one…
Job growth is not indicative of minimum wage,
What does that even mean? I already presented evidence showing how rising minimum wages co-existed with higher rates of job growth.
EVERYTHING that you have pretty much stated is not a minimum wage job…
Well, working in a warehouse isn’t exactly high-wage work, at least as I remember it.
And you are giving no examples so why are my “empty talking points” any different than yours??
Can you even read? I linked to the story on how states which raised their minimum wages saw more job growth than states which did not. Everything else I mentioned I have already covered in other comment threads on this topic.
You have given no examples of similar companies like hers that are in the same boat…
Um, I listed some of the places in Seattle which were looking to hire pizza workers. There were far more jobs on offer than there were people working at Z Pizza.
You’re the one claiming higher minimum wages mean more people on welfare. Here’s a hint: Washington state has the highest minimum wage of any state in the nation, and Seattle’s minimum wage is higher still. From the Federal Bureau of Labor Statistics report for March 2015:
The national unemployment rate in March was 5.6 percent, not seasonally adjusted, down from 6.8 percent a year earlier.
The table entry for Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue shows a rate of 4.6 percent for March 2015, and 5.6 percent for a year earlier. When you can explain how our high minimum wages repeatedly produced better-than-average employment rates, please let us know.
Look at the jobs hiring, they aren’t minimum wage jobs… are there some? Yes, and are some Pizza places expanding? Yes, will it account for all jobs lost because of the higher minimum wage, or positions that won’t be filled? I don’t know, and you can’t answer that either.
Also, as mentioned, but apparently you don’t take into consideration, is full time vs part time jobs either, benefits, etc… the unemployment rate is not a comparative of minimum wage jobs, McDonalds pays around $20 an hour in some states, it has nothing to do with minimum wage it has to with cost of living… a $100k year job in NYC is entry level the cost of living is so high.
You mention those “Warehouse jobs” what are they paying?? You keep giving examples, and acting like they are entry level jobs, but are they? What are they paying, none of your examples outside of Mod Pizza ssem to be min wage jobs… so are ALL the people that need to enter the job market going to be hired by Mod Pizza??
You haven’t answered my question though on what business you won or run, and how many people you employ.
Yes, will it account for all jobs lost because of the higher minimum wage, or positions that won’t be filled? I don’t know, and you can’t answer that either.
Strange — you were the one claiming as fact that higher minimum wages lead to job losses. Now you say you can’t answer that question. But when there are multiple new jobs offered for every job lost, we can be pretty sure employment is not suffering.
… the unemployment rate is not a comparative of minimum wage jobs…
Earlier in this very comment thread, you wrote, Higher minimum wages kill those jobs at the entry point… there are less jobs available to pay those that want to learn to work, and more people go onto the government welfare roles because of it. How then does the very part of Washington State with highest minimum wages have lower unemployment than the national average?
What are they paying, none of your examples outside of Mod Pizza ssem to be min wage jobs…
I have no idea what wages Mod Pizza pays; we don’t know what Z Pizza pays either, because the operator did not open her books for verification of her claim. My point was, and is, that Seattle continues adding jobs — at many income levels — as our minimum wage rises. Since you claim there is a causal connection between raising the minimum wage and employment levels, you have to explain how Seattle (and SeaTac) keep adding jobs as their minimum wages rise. You have not even come close to doing this.
Are you daft? I don’t give a shit how many $100k jobs are being offered, kids don’t apply for and get $100k jobs, it’s minimum wage jobs, those ones that people need while in school, or learning what a job is that matters, without those, nobody gets experience and moves up…
The PNW is lucky to have an economy that is not effected by outside influences historically, and that is true now, although it does seem to be going into a dip again possibly, but this whole argument is about minimum wage jobs, so all others don’t count… do you understand that?? It’s simple math, those are the jobs I’m worried about, not well paying jobs…
You are still not answering my question about your job or how many people you employ as you feel to know so much about business costs and how they run, are you an accountant then??
Or are you just some kid that thinks they live in Lala land?? Do you even have a job? Pay bills? Taxes?
…but this whole argument is about minimum wage jobs,
No, this post and thread are about jobs at one pizza place in Seattle. The anonymous author of the post claims this has something to do with Seattle raising our minimum wage, and you seem to agree with him, but neither of you has even tried to explain how Seattle’s high (and rising) minimum wage co-exists with unemployment rates being lower here than nationwide.
I don’t give a shit how many $100k jobs are being offered,
We’ll have to agree to disagree on that. I’m very happy Seattle is adding high-wage jobs. And warehouse jobs, too.
it’s minimum wage jobs, those ones that people need while in school, or learning what a job is that matters, without those, nobody gets experience and moves up…
Washington state started annual increases in our minimum wage in 1999, as a result of voters’ enactment of Initiative 688. For the last several years, we’ve had the highest minimum wage of any state. How, then, are our employment numbers better than the national average? Shouldn’t they be worse?
Okay, you answered my question, you are daft, you have no clue of economics outside of a few talking points, I am assuming because of your lack of ability to answer my questions on your experience in the real world you have none, so you are making your assumptions an conclusions made off of talking points.
I have have owned a number of businesses in my life in a number of different fields and still own a couple today, I know what it means to have to make a payroll, even when you can’t pay yourself… this is what happens a lot when starting a business, and you have no clue…
I refuse to debate with a person that doesn’t, have a nice day, enjoy your dream world…
If attacking me personally makes you feel better about having no data to support your claims, I guess you’ll do it. Please understand that when we voters make public policy which disproves your simplistic and wrong — yet cherished — ideas of how our economy really works, we’re not attacking you personally. We’re just doing what’s best for all of us.
And, speaking of wrong ideas of how our economy really works:
The PNW is lucky to have an economy that is not effected by outside influences historically, and that is true now,
In reality, back in the 1990s, Washington state’s economy depended upon international trade more than did the economy of any other state, and our local economy has become even more export-based in the years since.
Have a nice life.
As a small business owner with 15 full time employees I can state that I will have to let at least one of the 3 minimum wage workers go. Combined they add about $30/ hour to the top line. That’s what I pay them. Note, that’s the top line, not the bottom line. Also, I still have to pay FICA plus offer health care. All are under 22 years old. These are training positions. I give them quite a bit of help to become productive. Some do and some don’t. Those that do have moved up the pay scale and can make much more than $15.00/ hour. Several that have gone thru the process now make over $20/ hour + benefits. Will I close my doors, NO! Will I have to let folks go, YES. Multiply that times the number of small businesses and you’ll end up with lots of worthy individuals that won’t get a chance.
Multiply that times the number of small businesses and you’ll end up with lots of worthy individuals that won’t get a chance.
Again, we’ve heard that logic before:
“To help small businesses continue to offer good opportunities for young people and to keep prices from rising out of control, vote no on I-688.” (All emphases in the original.)
Fifteen years later, how were Washington State’s small businesses doing?
In Washington state, small businesses are adding jobs faster than any other state in the country, according to a report from Paychex and IHS.
Work for a business and then go start your own business, you really have know idea what is going on till you do that. It’s that simple and no amount of Bull$hit can change that.
If you need education on how to run a business while the minimum wage rises, you can go talk to Makini Howell, owner of the highly successful Plum Bistro, where every employee makes at least $15/hour. She also advocated for Seattle’s Paid Sick Leave law.