Minimum Wage Concerns

Minimum Wage Concerns. I'm Greg Martin with today's Fruit Grower Report. Washington State already already has the highest minimum wage in the nation and there has been a proposal to increase that even further. It's sitting at $8.55 with a proposed 12 cent increase. Scott Dilley, Washington State Farm Bureau's Public Policy Analyst says they are working to make sure farmers don't get gouged. DILLEY: Last week we began the process of filing a lawsuit against the State Department of Labor and Industries and at issue is the recent announcement by Labor and Industries that the state minimum wage go up by 12 cents next year. And what we are relying on in the lawsuit is the State Attorney General's opinion which came out in mid-September that actually discussed the way for L&I to correctly interpret the calculations for next year's minimum wage. Attorney General Rob McKenna is at odds with L&I over this issue. DILLEY: What we're wanting to clarify is just exactly how this wage is calculated because if it goes up what's going to happen is of course people are going to have to pay more for the work that they have done on their farms. If it stays the same as the Attorney General's office would recommend then at least we would still only have the highest minimum wage in the nation but it wouldn't be as high as what L&I wants next year. More tomorrow. That's today's Fruit Grower Report. I'm Greg Martin on the Ag Information Network.