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IFA WARNS ST. LOUIS TO REJECT DISCRIMINATORY WAGE HIKE
WASHINGTON, Aug. 25, 2015—International Franchise Association, representing thousands of franchise businesses and thousands of jobs in the St. Louis area, today sent a letter to St. Louis Mayor Francis Slay and the St. Louis Board of Aldermen opposing a minimum wage ordinance which discriminates against franchise businesses.
“Should the St. Louis Board of Aldermen decide to move forward with a minimum wage increase, franchise business should be treated the same as non-franchise businesses of the same size. Local franchises are in fact locally owned and operated small businesses that allow hundreds of thousands of Americans to participate in the American dream,” stated IFA’s Executive Vice President of Government Relations & Public Policy Robert Cresanti in the letter.
Kansas City recently passed a minimum wage increase and decided not to unfairly single out franchise businesses and treat all businesses of the same size equally. After discussions and education regarding the franchise model, Kansas City wisely decided to remove the section that would have treated franchise businesses differently than non-franchised businesses. Additionally, polling of Kansas City residents demonstrated overwhelming support for treating all businesses equally. The survey, conducted by Remington Research, found voters opposed arbitrary and discriminatory treatment of franchise businesses by a wide margin. Only 26 percent of respondents believe franchises should be treated differently than non-franchise businesses.
Unfortunately, the City of Seattle is already feeling the consequences of passing its own ordinance to increase the minimum wage, which singles out franchises for different treatment than it treats non-franchise businesses of the same size. In a recent report issued by the American Enterprise Institute (AEI) highlighted that the Seattle area restaurant industry just had its largest decline in jobs since the midst of the Great Recession (2009). Between January and June of this year, the Seattle area restaurant sector lost 1,300 jobs.
“IFA respectfully requests that you not pick winners and losers among businesses. One of the goals of any new minimum wage policy should be to ensure a level playing field for all St. Louis business owners and not put some at an advantage at the expense of others,” added Cresanti.
To view the full letter, click here.
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About the International Franchise Association
Celebrating 55 years of excellence, education and advocacy, the International Franchise Association is the world’s oldest and largest organization representing franchising worldwide. IFA works through its government relations and public policy, media relations and educational programs to protect, enhance and promote franchising and the more than 780,000 franchise establishments that support nearly 8.9 million direct jobs, $890 billion of economic output for the U.S. economy and 3 percent of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP). IFA members include franchise companies in over 300 different business format categories, individual franchisees and companies that support the industry in marketing, law, technology and business development.
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