Dive Brief:
- A number of colleges and universities have raised the minimum wage of campus employees in recent years, a move that has been supported from all sides but costly at a time of tight budgets.
- Inside Higher Ed reports that Duquesne University in Pittsburgh pays more than double what the state and federal government require — $16 an hour — and Duke University provides two-thirds more than North Carolina law requires at $12 an hour.
- The University of Washington is planning to comply with Seattle’s minimum wage increase to $15 an hour, and administrators say that if they did that tomorrow it would cost $25 million or possibly more, considering wage compression, according to the article.
Dive Insight:
The “Fight for $15” started as a fast food worker movement, and the rallying cry has spread across industries all over the country. Supporters argue that the minimum wage should be a living wage. The federal government’s minimum wage, though, is just $7.25 an hour, and it hasn’t moved since 2009. Seattle was the first city to raise its minimum wage to $15 an hour. It has been followed by Los Angeles.
By law, public colleges do not have to comply with the municipal wage increases if they are not matched by the state. The University of Washington could use this legal argument to avoid increasing the minimum wage for its workers but plans not to.