By Brenda Showalter, The Republic
bshowalter@therepublic.com
Wages for jobs in Columbus seldom start at the $5.15 per hour minimum mandated by Indiana and federal law.
Many employers say that if they paid only $5.15, they would have a difficult time finding good workers.
"No one wants to work for that," said Peter Roumeliotis, owner of the Patio restaurant on Middle Road.
In the restaurant business for 25 years, Roumeliotis starts his workers around $6.50 an hour and gives regular raises for those who stick around and do a good job.
He shrugs when asked what the impact of an increase in minimum wage - possibly to $7.50 by 2008 - would have on his business.
"I don't think it would affect me that much. We're there right now," Roumeliotis said.
Indiana's minimum wage, the same as the federal minimum wage, has been at $5.15 since Sept. 1, 1997, when it increased from $4.75.
Waitresses and others who make tips are required to be paid at least $2.13 an hour if the amount plus tips equals at least $5.15.
Sadie Cress, owner of Sadie's Family Dining on 25th Street said she could not attract workers if she paid $5.15 an hour.
"You just can't get help if you pay that," Cress said. "Anymore chain restaurants pay so much."
Sadie's workers who bus tables, cook, wash dishes and run the cash register all make at least $6.50 an hour.
Waitresses make $2.35 or more per hour plus tips.
"I try to be fair with workers," she said. "If they're good workers, I pay them."
Following the market
Jobs in restaurants, retail, child care, farming and the hospitality industry are typically among the lower-paying jobs, but locally, the market has driven wages higher.
Brenda Flanagan, executive director of Children Inc. in Columbus, said workers start at about $6.50 per hour
"We raised our starting salary a few years ago to be more competitive," said Flanagan, adding that she knows of other child-care organizations that pay $7 or more per hour.
Before deciding if Children's Inc. will raise pay further, Flanagan is waiting to see whether legislators increase the minimum wage.
Among the challenges for the nonprofit organization, she said, is balancing the costs of worker pay and parent fees.
Other employers see the mandated minimum wage as a guideline that is too low for many businesses to attract and keep workers.
Gary Berquist, general manager of the Holiday Inn on Jonathan Moore Pike, said none of his workers makes minimum wage, and he doesn't think an increase would affect the hotel's pay scale.
"They just need to let the market be the market," Berquist said.
A manager at a local Burger King said the restaurant's workers start at $7.25 per hour, and at Family Video on Central Avenue, a store manager said starting wages depend on experience, but usually were about $7 an hour.
A corporate spokesman for Wal-Mart said all of its workers receive more than minimum wage with fulltime associates averaging $10.37 an hour.
A human resources staff member at the Wal-Mart on Whitfield Drive said part-time workers start at $6.50 an hour.
Recent classified advertisements in The Republic showed Dolly Madison hiring bakery workers for $10.18 an hour and a manufactured home community looking for a groundskeeper and mower for $9 an hour.
Minimum rare
Jack Hess, president of the Columbus Area Chamber of Commerce, said surveys of area employers found most jobs in the area pay at least $6.50 an hour, even in fast-food and retail businesses.
"Even semi-skilled factory jobs are often $12 to $14 an hour," Hess said.
He added that part-time or temporary workers often make less compared to full-time, permanent employees.
Nancy McKinney, Bartholomew County auditor, said the lowest paid employees in the county are usually the summer and seasonal staff, including mowing crews.
"No one in the county makes minimum wage," McKinney said. "Summer and seasonal staff, generally college students, make $8 to $8.50 an hour."
In the city, workers with the lowest pay, according to the city's 2007 salary ordinance, include some summer workers starting between $6.50 and $7 an hour.
Recent years have seen an influx of Latino workers in the area, including many unskilled laborers, although the impact on wages is unclear.
Juan Garcia, director of Su Casa in Columbus, said some Latinos likely make minimum wage, but he believes most earn at least $6 an hour, even in farming or kitchen jobs at restaurants.
Larry Misner, owner of Home Folks restaurant on 25th Street, doesn't believe the government should dictate the minimum wage employers should pay.
"I think it's a political way of getting attention," Misner said. "As far as I'm concerned, it's a waste of time."
Misner said all of his workers make more than minimum wage and he knew of no other restaurants in town that paid only $5.15 an hour.
"I would be very, very surprised if anyone did."