Image provided by: Morrow County Museum; Heppner, OR
About Heppner gazette-times. (Heppner, Or.) 1925-current | View Entire Issue (May 24, 1979)
4 w- The Gazette-Times, Heppner. Oregon, Thursday. May 24, 1979-FIFTEEN Lawmakers play wait and see game in Salenr Salem Scene A Weekly Column By Jack Zimmerman Associated Oregon Industries Early this month the Oregon Wage & Hour Commision voted to lower the state-mandated minimum wage for workers less than 18 years old. The Legislature in Salem also is considering a measure, House Bill 3097, that would statutorily reduce the same minimum wage. Together, the bill and commission action have created a storm of controversy the results of which produced a sizeable amount of misunderstanding and unwarranted concern. Teenagers immediately begun calculating anticipated wage losses and the amounts of total earnings they feared might be lost during summer employ ment. Opponents of a sub minimum wage concept raised the discrimination ban ner and predicted dire conse quences. The Bureau of Labor's phones have been ringing off their hooks and its Portland offices have been flooded with mail. Few, if any reports have bothered to analyze actual impact of either the Commis sion action or the bill. Conse quently, there is considerable concern any objective consid eration of HB 3097 will be blunted by emotional reaction. More important, perhaps, many eligible employers may be discouraged from taking advantage of the opportunity to employ additional young people as provided by the commission. Biggest source of confusion regarding both HB 3097 and the Commission's ruling in volves precisely which em ployers are involved. The vast bulk of all Oregon employers operate under jur isdiction of the federal Fair , Labor Standards Act of 1938. As of January 1 this year, the federal minimum wage is $2.90 an hour. Under current federal law, that minimum riseds to $3.10 an hour next January and to $3.35 in 1981. Medicare workshop planned for center There will be a Medicare Insurance Workshop for sen ior citizens and all interested persons on Wednesday, May 30 at 10 a.m. at the Neighbor hood Center. This workshop will be con ducted by Suzanne Jepsen, Supervisor for the Tri-County Homemaker Program for senior citizens. The class is designed to help fill I SwPPUlBtnl$ J PtlJ Inleeloble I HanaiitM Shapplaf Plaza B I f 30 Hmy. MS Swth M7-7IU I Something less than 5 per cent of all Oregon employers fall under jurisdiction of the state Bureau of Labor's Wage & Hour Commission. They are required to pay the state minimum wage of $2.30 an hour. What the Wage & Hour Commission has done is to make it possible for employ ers under its jurisdiction to pay a beginning wage to 14-through 17-year-olds that is 80 percent of $2.30 or $1.85 during June, July and August of this year. It does not mean teens currently employed and being paid $2.30 an hour will find their pay automatically cut to $1.85 beginning next month. It doesn't even mean all teen agers who find summer jobs with employers under state jurisdiction will have to work for $1.85 an hour. Most employers under state jurisdiction have found they must pay more than $2.30 to attract teen workers who will stay on the job any length of time. In essence, what the Com mission has done and what HB 3097 would do is to create a condition under which a few small businesses which do not employ teenagers will find it more economically possible to hire new help. And at the same time such action is designed to provide teenagers with a new oppor tunity for work experience, on-the-job training and a chance to earn money on their own. Reducing the wages of inexperienced teenage help by 40 cents an hour may not mean much to a person who has not operated a business. They don't comprehend the fact wages are only a part of the cost of labor. Add matching social security payments, printing The Gazette-Times 676 9228 seniors understand supple mentary insurance to Medi care so they will not be "victimized by unscrupulous health insurance salesmen." Because it will be helpful to know approximately how many we will have in the class, will you please call the Neighborhood Center phone 676-5873 if you are interested. However, everyone is wel come whether you call or not. workers' compensation insur ance, unemployment insur ance, union pension fund contributions, health and ac cident insurance and other fringe benefits and you get a clearer picture of the financial investment it takes to hire new workers. Who are the employers who may find themselves in a position to hire teenagers and pay them a starting wage of D Manufacturers Suggested Retail Price $7303.25 Manufacturers Suggested Retail Price $6613.64 Does not include title, license or approp. taxes Sale is subject to credit approval All cars subject to prior sale or disposition We normally sell below MSRP 255 S. HIGHWAY $1.85 an hour? More than likely they are operators of small retail or service estab lishments. In order to fall under the Wage & Hour Commission's jurisdiction their businesses gross less than $5,000 a week. They are what a Bureau of Labor official called mama papa operations. They defin itely aren't operators of so called fast-food restaurants. A Pontiac Catalina Estimated Annual Fuel Cost Based On 15,000 M.P.Y. Buick Century Estimated Annual Fuel Cost Based On 1 5,000 M.P.Y. Toyota Corolla Estimated Annual Fuel Cost Based On 15,000 M.P.Y. Subaru DL Estimated Annual Fuel Cost Based On 1 5,000 M.P.Y. f " I ' - . -. ilk. t . -I IW LZ'''"' '-n't ,- " ' r A 395 They're not convenience stores, supermarkets or even service stations. When asked how the Bureau of Labor intends to survey results of this summer's experiment with the three month $1.85 training wage, a spokesman said employers of two or fewer employees will be surveyed. Oregon last year issued about 42,000 work permits to with 1 979 Pontiac Catalina COMPARE ... 1979 Buick Century HERMIST0N . - . 7--"r ; TtjWri iTijr" yp!?'jv -gf, . -i 14 through 17-year-olds and only a fraction of that number would qualify for the training wage. Best estimate is some thing less than 6,000. Opponents of the training wage concept tend to ignore the fact Washington and California are among states with similar provisions. They also have a tendency to skim over the fact the Fair Labor Standards Act also contains - - V provisions permitting subminimum wages. Relating this information to everyone concerned is a difficult task at best. It becomes even more difficult when the issue is obscurred by misinformation and misunderstanding. Only time will tell whether the Wage & Hour Commission will resist existing pressure to rescind its order and whether $584 525 $459 $362 i f -J the Legislature will succeed in passing HB 3097. Meanwhile, Nobel Prize winning economist Milton Friedman has summed up the opinion of many fellow econ omists on the subject by declaring it has always been a mystery why teenagers are supposed to be better off unemployed at $2.30 an hour than gainfully employed at something less. Economical V-6 engine, Cor dova top full vinyl, vinyl trim bench seat, side moulding, cruise control, rear window defogger, tinted glass, floor mats, AM radio, 8 track, tilt wheel, power steering wheel. SN2L37A9P185915 2 dr. sport, economical V-6 engine, tinted glass, side moulding, power disc brakes, power steering, radial tires, AM radio, floor mats, air, instrument gauges, deluxe wheel covers. SN4E87C9Z1 40211 HOURS: Open 8:30 to 8:00 Mon.-Sat. Sunday, 11:00 to 7:00 567-6115
