Burlington to ask voters about $15 minimum wage

Burlington residents will have a chance to vote on a $15 an hour minimum wage this March.

City Council members at Monday's meeting approved placing an advisory question about the issue on the Town Meeting Day ballot. The question is nonbinding, but supporters hope the measure will influence state legislators to take action on raising Vermont's minimum wage.

The motion passed nearly unanimously, with Kurt Wright casting the sole dissenting vote. Dave Hartnett, the owner of a small business, recused himself.

Charles Winkleman, who helped organize the initiative, said the movement is local to Burlington but inspired by the nationwide movement to raise the minimum wage.

The initiative's lead organizer, Annie Wohland, said she was inspired to fight for a $15 minimum wage by Sen. Bernie Sanders, who championed the cause during his 2016 presidential bid. Raising wages means workers are more able to afford food, education, health care and other needs.

The state minimum wage increased on Jan. 1 from $9.60 an hour to $10 an hour. It will increase to $10.50 in 2018.

Vermont Labor Secretary Annie Noonan estimated about 30,000 Vermont workers would be affected by the change.

Monday evening, before the council took up the question, council members and activists stood on the steps of City Hall to speak about the need to raise the wage. Winkleman spoke about how wage discrepancies disproportionately affect women and people of color.

"The minimum wage isn’t just a working-class issue, it’s an equity issue," he said during the council meeting later.

When the resolution was up for discussion, City Council President Jane Knodell, one of the lead sponsors of the measure, spoke in favor of the initiative as an economist. Knodell is a professor of economics at the University of Vermont and holds a doctorate from Stanford University.

"It’s not true that economists uniformly agree it leads to lower employment," she said. Knodell acknowledged that some small businesses might see increased costs, but overall, she said, raising the minimum wage would have an overall positive effect on the economy.

Wright, the council's sole Republican and also a member of the state Legislature, spoke out against the measure. He added that he would have reservations about supporting in Montpelier a bill to enact a minimum wage of $15 an hour.

He said declined to co-sponsor a $15 an hour minimum wage bill, though he supported moderate increases to the minimum wage.

He is concerned, he said, about the effect on small businesses and the loss of jobs in Vermont.

Clarification: Wohland is the lead organizer of Burlington's Fight for $15. This story has been updated to better reflect her role.

Contributing: The Associated Press. Contact Jess Aloe at 802-660-1874 or jaloe@freepressmedia.com. Follow her on Twitter at @jess_aloe.