$15 minimum wage in Portland? Voters to decide
This November, Portland voters will be asked if they want to raise the city’s minimum wage from $7.50 an hour to $15, a proposal that goes above and beyond the increase sought by elected officials.
The Portland Press Herald reported that the Portland City Council on Monday voted to put a citizen’s initiative calling for a $15 an hour minimum wage on the city’s November ballot. The city council also voted to reconsider its own minimum wage increase on Sept. 9, which officials said would allow more time to figure out how tipped workers should be handled.
The citizen’s initiative, pushed by a group called Portlanders for a Living Wage, would require employers with more than 500 employees to comply with a $15 an hour minimum wage by 2017, while employers with fewer employees would have four years to meet the requirement. The initiative would also increase the minimum wage for tipped workers to $11.25 an hour.
Greg Dugal, executive director of the Maine Restaurant and Innkeepers Association, said at the city council’s Monday meeting that a $15 an hour minimum wage would put an "unreasonable and irresponsible burden on Portland businesses."
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Portland OKs minimum wage increase
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