The National Grocers Association is pushing back against the inclusion of the $15 minimum wage proposal in the budget reconciliation package.
In a letter to the House Education and Labor Committee, Chris Jones, NGA’s senior vice president of government relations and counsel said, “While we are willing to support an increase in the federal minimum wage, more than doubling the current hourly rate is impractical for a large portion of NGA’s members, many of whom are small, independent businesses serving lower cost of living geographic regions across the country. In response to a drastic increase in the minimum wage, many independent supermarkets would struggle to compete or accelerate the pace of automation in their stores and create an unlevel playing field between large and small businesses.”
The committee ultimately approved the reconciliation package, which will be merged into an expected $1.9 trillion economic rescue package. It will head to the full House for a vote, where it's expected to pass, before being taken up by the Senate.
In anticipation of Senate action, the NGA also led a meeting between West Virginia grocers and Sen. Joe Manchin’s (D-WV) legislative staff, urging the senator to oppose the $15 minimum wage. As a moderate Democratic senator from a conservative state, Manchin is seen as the potential lynchpin to Senate approval of a $15 federal minimum wage, given the slim Democratic majority.
Cason Edwards, co-owner of St. Mary’s Galaxy Food Center, and other NGA members joined the meeting, arguing that a one-size-fits-all federal wage would be devastating to states like West Virginia that have high rates of food insecurity and rely on independent grocers for food access.
Related: House Democrats Introduce Act to Raise Minimum Wage; Restaurant Workers Celebrate Biden's Plans to Support Industry.