More than 100 St. Louis businesses are supporting the “Save The Raise” campaign. It was announced during a news conference in south St. Louis on Monday that these business will maintain the $10 an hour minimum wage. Jason Deem, who owns several businesses along Cherokee Street, including “South Side Spaces”, is calling on larger companies to follow suit.
Support grows to keep $10 minimum wage in St. Louis
“It’s unfortunate that us as small businesses are having to lead the charge, but we’ll take that burden and we’ll prove that it works and we’ll be that case study and I think that a lot of these businesses here on Cherokee Street will be that case study. We’ll prove to our elected officials that this does work.” said Deem.
“I treated the minimum wage increase just like the cost of a can of tomatoes going up for my restaurants,” said Casey Miller, co-owner of the Vista Room restaurant and other businesses in the city. “The sky didn’t fall.”
The “Save The `Raise” campaign launched on July 14th.
St. Louis’ higher minimum wage went into effect in May, but the state legislature passed a measure prohibiting cities from establishing their own minimum wages. The city’s minimum wage is set to roll back to the state’s minimum wage of $7.70 per hour on August 28th.
By Missourinet contributor Jill Enders