The Patriot Post® · Franchises Don't Like $15 Wage

Seattle’s $15-an-hour minimum wage is receiving a challenge in court from the International Franchise Association because it unfairly targets franchises, they say. For their suit, the organization appeals to the statist’s favorite part of the Constitution: the interstate commerce clause. The Associated Press reports, “For example, an independently owned Holiday Inn Express in Seattle with 28 workers is considered a ‘large’ business under the law, because Holiday Inn franchises nationally have more than 500 workers, the lawsuit argues. Meanwhile, other Seattle companies with up to 500 workers are considered ‘small’ and given extra time to adopt the wage. ‘The ordinance will impose significantly higher labor costs on small franchisees than on their non-franchised competitors,’ [the suit] said. ‘It is foreseeable that some small franchisees in Seattle will not survive this prolonged period of unfair competition.’” And this apparently offends the rights of large franchises, so big business is appealing to their cronies in government to do something about it. Minimum wage is bad policy all the way around. More…