Why are farmers worried about the proposal of Gov. Andrew Cuomo to raise the minimum wage? The simple answer is that they have relied heavily on a work force that is paid relatively high.
Their workers were not like fast-food staff and other employees in low-paying jobs who were the focus of a directed campaign to fatten their salaries.
If the governor's proposal is made into law, these farmers would be placed in an even more difficult position regarding payrolls since they require jobs that are hard-to-fill. Recent statistics revealed that farm workers are already receiving more than the minimum.
Hiking workers' pay is very appealing to a politician eyeing a national office in the future, but not to his constituent farmers. A recent report said that raising the wage bar to a $15 minimum has killed jobs in Seattle.
The city passed its minimum wage law of $15 in June 2014. In April, it began raising its minimum wage from $9.32 to $10 for some businesses and $11 for others. It was again raised to $12, then $12.50 and then $13 per hour for most employers since Jan. 1.
This rate will increase gradually until it reaches the required $15 per hour in 2017 before this level becomes universal in 2019.
But even as early as this year, the effect of the raises has been harsh.
The American Enterprise Institute (AEI) study taken from the Bureau of Labor Statistics' monthly surveys reveals that from April and December 2015, Seattle experienced its biggest employment drop in any nine-month period since 2009 - one year after the Great Recession.
Seattle's unemployment rate increased one full percentage point. But before the enactment of the minimum wage hike, the city followed the rest of the country with their slow wage increases from the 2008 to 2009 lows. Then it started to drop last spring as the new law started to kick in.
During the three months from September to November, Seattle lost 10,000 jobs. This was a record for any three-month period since 1990. This could be the same fate of New York farmers .
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