A 15 cent increase in Oregon’s minimum wage may be enough to buy the average part-time worker an extra cup of coffee every other week. But its effects on the University of Oregon, where the majority of minimum wage workers are students, will be minimal.
Work study programs won’t be impacted because wages paid are based on static financial aid awards. According to the Office of Institutional Research, the university employs 488 minimum wage workers — 461 are students and 17 are temporary workers. The remaining 10 are permanent university employees.
The Oregon Board of Labor and Industry announced on Sept. 17 that the state’s minimum wage will increase to $9.25 per hour starting on Jan. 1.
This puts Oregon $2 above the federal minimum wage of $7.25 and 7 cents below Washington, the state with the highest minimum wage.
The announcement comes at a time when wages and cost of living are making headlines around the state and nation.
City councilors in Seattle passed a $15 minimum wage ordinance earlier this year, which will take effect April 15, 2015. A group is lobbying for similar legislation in Portland.
The Oregon labor department estimates that 21 percent of the state’s employees work in the hospitality and leisure sectors—that’s you, sandwich-makers and dish washers. Retail accounts for the second most minimum wage workers at 10 percent.
The Register-Guard reports that Labor Commissioner Brad Avakian plans on pushing the Oregon Legislature to re-think the way it sets minimum wage—right now the state’s House of Representatives and Senate tie the number to annual inflation growth.
Avakian argues that a minimum wage of $12 would be necessary to lift a family of four above the poverty line, nearly 30 percent more than the current rate.
For hourly part-time employees working 20 hours per week, the Oregon increase amounts to a boost of $6 per biweekly paycheck before taxes. That’s a little more than the price of that venti double-shot pumpkin spice latte you just bought.
Follow Eder Campuzano on Twitter: @edercampuzano