By Sheila Sarmiento
The minimum wage legislation, approved by the U.S. House of Representatives, which will raise the federal minimum wage from $5.15 to $7.25, has created controversy in the Hispanic community between workers and business owners.
This legislation was celebrated by the National Council of La Raza (NCLR), the largest national Hispanic civil rights and advocacy organization in the United States, because it will improve economic conditions for more than 1.3 million Latino workers.
Today there are nearly 21 million Latinos in the workforce. Of the Latino population in Utah, 72.6 percent are in the workforce, compared to the 68.3 percent of Latino workers nationwide. In addition, Hispanics maintain the highest labor force participation rate of workers in the United States, with nearly 7 in 10 employable Latinos in the labor force.
Among these Latino workers in Utah, there are many who support the approval of this minimum wage legislation. This will give them a better chance to provide for their families who now have to have two jobs supporting them.
Miriam Vayas is one of the Latino workers in Utah who will benefit from the minimum wage increase. Vayas moved to the United States eight months ago and has been working in a fast food restaurant in Utah County for a few months.
'I''m very happy about it,' Vayas said. 'That''s great news for me and my family. It''s really hard to support a family or even save money with a minimum wage. You just can''t do anything with such a low salary.'
On the other hand, some Hispanic business owners are concerned about this legislation because it will increase the costs of their own businesses, especially small businesses that are new in the market.
Out of 8,600 minority-owned businesses in the state of Utah, 55 percent are owned by Latinos. Such is the case of Alfonso Lopez, owner of Las Tarascas, a Mexican food restaurant.
'An increase in the minimum wage is a good thing for workers in general, but not for us cause it''s going to hurt our business,' Lopez said. 'Even though I don''t pay minimum wage, my workers are going to want to get a raise when they see that other more established restaurants are going to start paying more.'
Lopez came from Michoacan, Mexico, in 1985 and started his restaurant business two years ago to support his family.
During these first two years he has invested thousands of dollars in his business to give it a good start and now that he is getting his investments back, he is concerned that increases of salaries might affect his capital.
'I know it''s going to be difficult, but I''ll do my best to move my business forward,' Lopez said.