The Bare Minimum – a Small Business Perspective on $15 Per Hour

[Sherman A1]

I don’t pay my employees enough. That’s hard to admit.

I mean, I don’t cross picket lines, I’m a patient driver, I garden vegetables and work in my wood shop, I love animals and people, and I can get along with just about anyone. I’m a good guy. And my staff are not just employees to me. I see their talents, their struggles, their hopes and dreams – their lives mean something to me. They are my friends.

They’re no slouches, either. Among us we have published writers, artists, aspiring lawyers, career booksellers, political activists, bartenders, actors and photographers. My store is not a place one goes to wash out – it’s a place one goes to click in.

Still, I know they (we) struggle. I’ve only managed to bring the starting salary about .75 above minimum plus free health insurance, book credit, bonuses at the end of the year and an atonal cacophony of booksellers singing happy birthday for each person once a year. It’s enough to make most happy, but not enough to make anyone comfortable. It’s not even enough to make most people solvent, and it bothers me.

https://jareksteele.wordpress.com/2015/06/03/the-bare-minimum/

An interesting piece well worth reading in it's entirety by the Co-Owner of Left Bank Books, an Independent Bookstore in St. Louis, Mo on the call by The Mayor of St. Louis to raise the minimum wage in St. Louis to $15.00 per hour by 2020.

[fasttense]

1. I have the same problem when I hire farm workers

I pay well above minimum wage when I hire part time workers. I don't make enough yet to hire full time, so health care is not an issue-yet. I refuse to hire illegal immigrants. Most of the farms around here use illegal immigrants and pay them practically nothing. It continually amazes me that these poor desperate people are so willing to work for so little, and the greedy farmers who all line up to abuse them.

I do hire immigrants if they apply but mostly it is kids right out of high school that end up applying. Sometimes I hire people who have been to jail. But in most all cases they wanted more work and longer hours. I can understand there needs but I just don't make enough off what I farm to hire full time. Sometimes it breaks my heart to see them leave.

[Sherman A1]

2. You do what you can

I ran a small hobby/game store with a situation as described by the author of the article. Prices set by the Manufacturer and no means to go above suggested retail so operating overhead had to come out of the discount from the retail that we received as a retailer of their goods. I had 4 employees all part time and they all did a great job, but most years I drew no salary or benefits (thankfully I had a full time job elsewhere). It was a labor of love, it was fun, I met some great folks along the way, but in the end we had to call it a day as the market was changing and we could no longer carry on.

He makes a very valid point about shopping local and has convinced me to head over to his store although it is not the most convenient for me and I don't buy a lot of books anymore, but when the time comes I will visit Left Bank Books, because this guy seems like he at least wants to do the right thing.