Letter: Feel-good wage measure will impede hiring

Published 1:30 am Friday, October 21, 2016

Initiative 1433 would raise the state minimum wage to $13.50 an hour and require paid sick leave for all employees.

This is a feel-good measure that will hurt lower-income workers by preventing some from getting hired.

Employers who have to pay more for labor will raise prices, cut employee benefits, hire fewer workers, or will automate jobs when higher human costs make machines a cost-effective option. Think self-checkout machines at the supermarket.

The real path for workers to get ahead is to make themselves worth $20, $30, or $50 an hour by going to school, learning something of value to this economy, and working hard to gain job experience and skills.

But a worker without the skills or experience to produce $13.50 an hour of value to an employer simply won’t get the job.

How much does $13.50 an hour add up to, multiplied by zero hours?

Initiative 1433 is cotton candy, folks. It looks good and tastes good, but it doesn’t do good. Vote no.

Karl Schweizer

Lake Stevens