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PublishedJanuary 24, 2021
Portland businesses struggle to keep up with new $18 hazard pay
Some have cut hours and laid off staff. Others have raised prices. Many say the situation isn't sustainable.
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PublishedDecember 30, 2020
Maine Voices: Government by referendum is almost always a bad idea
Approval of Portland’s rent-control and minimum-wage proposals shows what happens when the public decides issues without asking many hard questions.
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PublishedDecember 16, 2020
Commentary: I’m young and Black. Barack Obama is not my hero
His politics have always been those of a cautious centrist.
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PublishedNovember 17, 2020
Some employers plan to pay Portland’s new hazard wage
City Hall has said it will not enforce a new $18 emergency minimum wage until 2022, but businesses fear a delay would leave them open to lawsuits.
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PublishedNovember 4, 2020
Portland chamber says minimum wage increase could devastate businesses
Proponents say the increase to $15 by 2024 will help women and people of color, but many employers are concerned that a hazard pay provision requiring time-and-a-half pay during a declared emergency will put them out of business.
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PublishedFebruary 25, 2020
Maine Compass: Overtime abuses fuel a race to the bottom
Employers can be competitive without exploiting their workforce, a local businessman writes.
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PublishedJanuary 21, 2020
Scholars Strategy Network: Getting by with less and less
Inflation inequality means that policymakers likely underestimate the number of people living in poverty.
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PublishedJanuary 12, 2020
Maine Compass: UMaine System student workers are not a commodity – they are an investment
By blocking the student workforce from receiving minimum-wage hikes, the system favors its bottom line over its mission.
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PublishedDecember 31, 2019
New year brings raise for minimum-wage workers, in final phase of voter-approved plan
Maine's minimum wage has risen from $7.50 to $12 an hour since voters approved the increases in 2016. Supporters say it has helped low-income workers, but critics say it has hurt small businesses.
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PublishedMarch 4, 2019
Seasonal businesses could again get subsidies for hiring teen workers
Last year's pilot program paid out $12,743 in grants to 16 businesses to partially cover wages, according to Maine Department of Labor records.
Minimum wage
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