New York's wage hike no boon for employees

New York's minimum wage increased to $7.15 per hour with the New Year, but don't expect that to move the payroll at Pop's Deli in Ronkonkoma.

"I have professional people, getting $10 to $12 an hour," said Pop's owner Nick Tzompanakis. "You can't get people for less than that."

But the tight labor market on Long Island means few workers will see their paychecks grow because of the increases. "Given our labor force shortage, ongoing for several years, even the lowest paying employers have to pay above minimum wage to find workers," said Pearl Kamer, chief economist with the Long Island Association, who predicted the state law will have little impact on the Island.

"It might help recent immigrants who are more likely to be exploited, but even there the impact is minimal," Kamer said.

Although she has no firm data, Kamer said that based on anecdotes, the base level of wages on Long Island - where unemployment sits at about 3.5 percent, she said - is between $8 and $10.

The higher-than-minimum wages are found even in the agriculture industry, traditionally on the low end of the pay scale, said Joe Gergela, executive director of the Long Island Farm Bureau, a trade association representing agriculture interests. Farmers are paying workers roughly $10 per hour and paying the minimum is exceedingly rare, he said.

"There's a lot of competition for the low-end wage-earners out there," Gergela said, with farmers vying with landscapers and the construction industry for workers.

"It's so difficult to find workers that anyone looking for workers is going to have to pay," Kamer added.

Tzompanakis knows the labor market is tight, which is why he strives to keep turnover low at Pop's Deli. "Once you lose a person," he noted, "it's hard to get anyone."

Along with the state's new minimum wage, Nassau's "living wage" measure also took effect Jan. 1. That law governs wages paid to all county employees and to employees of contractors hired by the county. Beginning this year, workers will receive a minimum of $9.50 per hour; that rises to $10.50 per hour in 2008 and $12.50 per hour in 2010. The law requires payment of a living wage on all contracts worth more than $25,000.

But even this higher wage will have a limited impact, Kamer predicted.

Judith Jacobs, presiding officer of the Nassau County Legislature, said that while the measure will not affect great numbers of workers, it sends an important message to those hoping to do business with the county.

"We're telling people, 'Don't even bother bidding on a contract unless you're paying a living wage,'" Jacobs said. "We're safely assuming that most of the people who work with the county are paying a living wage.

"There are people that are going to benefit," she added. "But overall, it was just the right thing to do and that's why we proceed with it as we did."

According to Steve Antonio, deputy director for the Office of Legislative Budget Review, Nassau's living wage affects 850 county employees, all of whom are seasonal or part-time workers. This year, the county has budgeted for 9,203 full-time employees and 2,085 part- time or seasonal workers, Antonio said.

Suffolk County passed a living wage law for contractors with the county in 2002. It now requires pay of $10.02 per hour with health benefits or $11.41 without health benefits, and applies to contracts of more than $10,000. Suffolk's living wage is pegged to the Consumer Price Index.

New York's minimum wage is now $2 above the federal minimum wage of $5.15. Congressional Democrats have made raising the national wage a priority; the federal minimum wage was last raised in 1997.