The below appeared as a Letter to the Editor in The New York Times:
To the Editor:
Re “Fast-Food Workers Deserve a Pay Raise,” by Andrew M. Cuomo (Op-Ed, May 7):
Governor Cuomo’s efforts to raise the minimum wage are an assault on an industry that has delivered nearly 800,000 jobs to the state of New York. His decision to bypass the legislative process through a self-appointed commission that will review wages without representation from anyone within the restaurant industry will lead to the elimination of many of these jobs. Worse, he will kill opportunity.
Industrywide we are seeing tremendous growth in restaurant ownership, particularly among minorities and women. Half of America’s restaurants are owned or co-owned by women, and more than a third of restaurants have minority ownership.
Most of these entrepreneurs started on the first rung of the ladder, with restaurants providing the opportunity to move up quickly. Some 80 percent of all restaurant owners started in the industry in an entry-level position, and 90 percent of restaurant managers started as hourly employees.
Unfortunately, whenever the minimum wage is increased, that career ladder is pushed further and further out of reach for our least-skilled and inexperienced workers.
Education, training and fostering a favorable business climate are the keys to opportunity and mobility and the best way to address income inequality, rather than following organized labor’s outdated playbook.
DAWN SWEENEY
President and Chief Executive
National Restaurant Association
Washington
This is the most important claim in the article:
ReplyDelete"Unfortunately, whenever the minimum wage is increased, that career ladder is pushed further and further out of reach for our least-skilled and inexperienced workers."
A claim like this, that is counter to the prevailing thought, requires a "why" - a justification. The letter would have been much more powerful had Dawn actually explained about restaurant margins, risk, profit and loss.
Assertions don't do much to change minds. It's too easy to simply disagree with what you already "know" to be true. Justification, with reason and evidence, change minds.