This is an image of a quote by Andrew Carnegie that states his belief that people must motivate themselves to move up in the world. He didn't believe that anyone should have anything handed to them.
Seattle's $15 minimum wage -- USA's highest -- challenged
A federal lawsuit filed Wednesday challenges Seattle's adoption of what would be the nation's highest minimum wage as unfair to small franchises. The Seattle City Council voted unanimously this month to gradually raise the minimum wage to $15 an hour. The plan gives businesses with more than 500 employees nationally at least three years to phase in the increase — four if they provide health insurance. Smaller employers get seven years. In a lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court in Seattle, the International Franchise Association, a Washington, D.C.-based business group, said the ordinance "unfairly and irrationally discriminates against interstate commerce generally, and small businesses that operate under the franchise business model specifically." 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," it said. "It is foreseeable that some small franchisees in Seattle will not survive this prolonged period of unfair competition." But Seattle Mayor Ed Murray rejected any assertion of unfairness, saying that the franchises have advantages unavailable to other local businesses. For example, fast food franchises have menus, a supply chain, training and advertising provided by national corporate entities, he noted. If the $15-an-hour wage floor challenges franchise owners, they should take that up with those national corporations, he said. "I don't doubt at all that they are working under some pretty tight conditions, but I think it's a conversation to have with some of the people who have decided to spend oodles of money on lawyers," Murray said in a statement emailed by his office. The complaint, signed by former U.S. Solicitor General Paul Clement, alleges a slew of legal shortcomings with the minimum wage measure, from incompatibility with federal trademark law to violations of the state and federal constitutions. Among the arguments: —By increasing the costs for franchises associated with out-of-state companies, the law discourages those companies from doing business in Seattle, thus violating the commerce clause of the U.S. Constitution, which reserves for Congress the regulation of interstate commerce. —By treating independently owned franchises differently from local companies of similar size, the law violates the rights of the franchises to equal treatment under the law. —By imposing higher costs on franchises, the law makes it difficult for the out-of-state companies that own the franchise trademarks to maintain the quality of those trademarks, in violation of federal law. The plaintiffs include Seattle franchise owners of AlphaGraphics, a printing company; BrightStar Care, a home-care company; Comfort Inn; and Holiday Inn Express. Seattle's decision to raise the minimum wage was kick-started by last fall's election of Socialist City Councilwoman Kshama Sawant, who had called for a raise to $15 an hour to improve the plight of low-income workers. Supporters have celebrated their victory this month by calling for a national movement to close income and opportunity gaps between rich and poor. San Francisco has the nation's highest hourly minimum wage at $10.74. Voters there will decide in November whether to raise the city's minimum wage to $15 an hour in 2018. The minimum wage in Washington state is $9.32 an hour. Earlier this year, Minnesota raised the state's guaranteed wage by more than $3, to $9.50, by 2016. California, Connecticut and Maryland also have passed laws increasing their respective wages to $10 or more in coming years. Analysis: The argument against the minimum wage increase in Seattle is similar to that of the industrialists in the 19th century. The industrialists did not want to pay their workers a living wage because it would increase production costs. This is similar to the argument of businesses now who do not want to pay what is considered a living wage in Seattle because it would increase production costs and negatively impact the business. The industrialists did not want to pay a living wage because it would increase production costs and impact profits. The difference between now and the 19th century is that paying a living wage is government mandated now while it was not in the 19th century during the time of the industrialists.
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This is Andrew Carnegie's certificate of naturalization. Andrew Carnegie immigrated from Scotland when he was a young boy and became a US citizen in 1885. Carnegie believed that immigrants could receive a better life in the US, but he also believed that they would only receive a better life if they worked for it. Carnegie's experience as an immigrant growing up in America shaped his view of the workforce and also his view that everyone should be given the tools for an education to improve their life.
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