Minimum Wage

Consequences of DJs' prank With all the regrets being expressed by the Australian radio station and Mel Greig and Michael Christian, the DJs whose hoax was followed by the death of a nurse who relayed their prank call to a London hospital about Catherine, duchess of Cambridge, there is a very important point being missed ("Prank DJs' show is axed," Tuesday). The call was conceived by the DJs and approved by the station, with the self-centered goals of building reputations. If the call was successful and put through, it was certain to get hospital employees in trouble.

A coalition of advocacy and labor groups wants the city to extend its "living wage" standard, now in effect for many companies with city contracts, to about 2,000 low-wage workers at Philadelphia International Airport. Although many airport employees are covered by union contracts, some in passenger service jobs - skycaps, wheelchair attendants, aircraft cleaners, and baggage handlers at luggage carousels - work for subcontractors that have low-bid contracts with airlines. The city's minimum-wage and benefit standard of $10.88 an hour and paid sick days for people working under direct contracts with City Hall does not apply to these subcontractors.

A Camden County company will pay $34,200 in back wages to 55 workers and $48,000 in civil penalties after violating the federal Immigration and Nationality Act, the U.S. Department of Labor's Wage and Hour Division said Monday. Popsy Pop L.L.C. in Somerdale recruited workers from Eastern Europe, Central and South America, and the Caribbean to drive trucks and sell ice cream throughout New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Delaware. The law allows employers to temporarily hire nonimmigrant workers to perform nonagricultural labor or services.

A Camden County company will pay $34,200 in back wages to 55 workers and $48,000 in civil penalties after violating of the federal Immigration and Nationality Act, the U.S. Department of Labor's Wage and Hour Division said Monday. Popsy Pop LLC in Somerdale recruited workers from Eastern Europe, Central and South America and the Caribbean to drive trucks and sell ice cream throughout New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Delaware. The law allows employers to temporarily hire nonimmigrant workers to perform nonagricultural labor or services.

Gov. Christie should sign legislation passed Monday that would increase New Jersey's minimum wage from $7.25 to $8.50 an hour, with automatic cost-of-living raises. Low-wage workers, unfortunately, are a growing segment of the workforce. An August study by the National Employment Law Project showed that 60 percent of the jobs lost during the recession paid middle-income wages, but such positions accounted for only 22 percent of the jobs that have been filled during the recovery. In contrast, only 21 percent of the jobs lost during the recession were in the lowest-paid occupations, but those types of jobs accounted for 58 percent of the positions being filled in the recovery.

The Democratic-led New Jersey Senate unleashed a double-barreled political shot at Gov. Christie on Thursday, approving both a bill and a proposed constitutional amendment to raise the minimum wage and provide automatic cost-of-living increases in it. Should Christie veto the bill or strip it of the automatic increases, legislative leaders plan to put the proposed amendment to voters in November 2013, when Christie would be up for reelection....

TRENTON - So much for the bipartisan lovefest brought on by Hurricane Sandy. Democratic and Republican senators clashed Monday over a proposal to raise the state's minimum wage to $8.50 from $7.25 an hour and provide annual cost-of-living increases. The Budget Committee advanced the bill by a 7-6 vote, and the Senate is expected to deliver final approval next week. Republicans beseeched Democrats, who rule both chambers in Trenton, to consider phasing in the raise to blunt labor costs to storm-damaged businesses.

TRENTON - So much for the bipartisan lovefest brought on by Hurricane Sandy. Democrat and Republican senators clashed Monday over a proposal to raise the state's minimum wage to $8.50 from $7.25 and provide for annual cost of living increases. The Senate Budget committee advanced the bill by a 7-6 vote, and the Senate is expected to deliver final approval next week. Republicans beseeched Democrats, who rule both chambers in Trenton, to consider phasing in the raise to blunt labor costs to storm-damaged businesses.

More than 1,000 foreign college students who came to the United States for a cultural exchange but ended up working long hours for below minimum wage in a warehouse packaging Hershey's candy will receive back pay, the U.S. Department of Labor announced Wednesday. Three companies will pay $213,042 to 1,028 students who worked at the warehouse in Palmyra, Pa., between November 2009 and October 2011. The students made headlines in August 2011 when they went on strike over their situation and the complicated hiring process behind it. "I feel deeply inspired today, because our strike has had the incredible result of exposing and addressing the fundamental problems facing so many workers," Chinese student Chen Wen said in a statement from the National Guestworker Alliance, an advocacy group.