$15 Minimum Wage is “Absolutely Outrageous” says Dunkin’ CEO
NEW YORK, NEW YORK – July 24, 2015 (Gephardt Daily) — A top executive at Dunkin’ Donuts says it’s an “absolutely outrageous” idea to pay fast food workers a $15 minimum wage.
New York state’s wage board recommended the $15 per hour pay rate for fast food workers on Thursday and suggested it should take effect by the end of 2018 in New York City.
Nigel Travis, Dunkin’ Brand CEO, told CNN’s Poppy Harlow that the hike in pay would actually “prevent his multi-billion dollar company from hiring new people.” Travis added that he , “didn’t want to sound threatening” since it probably wouldn’t force lay offs at Dunkin’ Donuts. However, the CEO said he expects the hike to negatively “affect small businesses and franchises across the country.”
Dunkin’ Donuts would support fast food workers making $12 an hour according to Travis, describing that as a “living wage for a worker with family at home.”
However, MIT’s Living Wage Calculator shows that New York’s living wage is currently $12.75 an hour for a single adult and closer to $18.30 an hour for a household with two working parents and two children. New York State’s current minimum wage is $8.75 an hour so the proposed $15 an hour would represent a 71 percent increase.
The proposal to hike New York’s minimum wage to $15 an hour still needs the approval of the state’s labor commissioner.
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