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GOP wants to weaken minimum wage

Let’s get one thing straight: Jeb! and his GOP cronies absolutely hate being told what to do by lowly voters. Jeb! fought for and won a repeal of the voter mandated bullet train, and is now going after the class size amendment.

Last year, Florida voters overwhelmingly decided to give low wage workers a raise to $6.15 per hour. This is only a dollar more than the federal minimum wage, and it doesn’t even come close to being a living wage - a salary that is sufficient to pay rent, buy food, and provide clothes and other necessities for a family.

Despite the miserly paychecks that will result from a $6.15 wage, Florida’s GOP legislators feel that this extra dollar would be a huge burden for the businesses that would have to pay it, and they are fighting hard to minimize the effects.

The proposed legislation could limit workers' right to file class-action lawsuits if they feel that the higher pay has been withheld. Also, it gives employers a 15-day window after a worker complains to pay up and still incur no penalty or fine.

Pedro Dongo, manager of the Latin Cafe 2000 restaurant near downtown Miami, likes the idea of an extra cushion of time to comply with the state's new minimum wage, which kicks in May 2.

With a chain of six Latin-style cafeterias in Miami-Dade County, ''having more time is preferable,'' Dongo said.

However, that flexibility for employers wasn't what the constitutional amendment intended, say supporters who helped win approval for the measure.

Backers of Amendment No. 5 are concerned about a proposed bill that should be ready for lawmakers when the Florida Legislature opens Tuesday. They fear that the measure, which seeks to clarify how the increase will be implemented, instead creates loopholes for employers and eliminates vital protections for workers by limiting their ability to file class-action lawsuits.

ACORN, the advocacy group that organized a petition drive that got the minimum wage amendment on the ballot, says no enabling legislation is needed for this measure. ACORN is an acronym for the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now.

Laura Mullins, one of ACORN's state organizers, said the proposed legislation actually weakens enforcement and is employer friendly.

''Voters wanted a strongly worded amendment to the Constitution,'' she said.

The amendment calls for the higher minimum wage to go into effect six months after it was voted in. The wage is then adjusted for inflation every September.

There are some 135,000 workers in the state that will be affected by the change.

The proposed bill gives employers a 15-day window to pay the higher wages before they are penalized for breaking the law.

Peter Valori, a Miami-based attorney who represents mostly management in employment cases, said employers can't use that period to retaliate against a staffer who has complained about not being paid the higher wage.
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McAllister, whose group provided input to the House Judiciary Committee which has drafted the proposed bill, said legislation is essential because employers needed to know when the higher wage would be effective.

If workers decide to sue an employer, the bill requires workers to state upfront how much they are owed in back pay. It also requires all members of a potential class to identify themselves when a lawsuit is filed, which will prevent other wronged workers from joining the suit.

Damages to workers would be limited to amounts stated in the lawsuit at the onset of the litigation.

Labor lawyers say the provision flies in the face of how class actions usually proceed. Normally, plaintiffs and damages are determined during the discovery process once a class action has been certified by a court.

Rep. Dan Gelber, D-Miami Beach, was the only member of the House Judiciary Committee who voted against the enabling bill, because the language is ``contrary to the spirit and letter of the amendment.''

With the legislative session getting underway next week, ACORN is mounting an aggressive grass-roots lobbying effort to derail the proposed bill.

Members of ACORN have started visiting legislators in Tallahassee and will be in town March 21 to protest .