Dunkin Donuts CEO slams minimum wage hike for fast-food employees

The statement comes after New York’s state wage board recommended all fast-food workers make at least $15 an hour. Dunkin’ Donuts CEO Nigel Travis views the increase, which would be in place by the end of 2018, as unreasonable. “The increase is 71 percent, that’s proposed”.

“It’s what happens when the government imposes a restriction on the labor market that normally wouldn’t be there, and marginal businesses get hit the hardest, and usually those are small, neighborhood businesses”, said Paul Guppy, of the Washington Policy Center. “This is going to affect franchises”. The current minimum wage in New York State is $8.75 and hour.

 But Travis, whose company also owns the Baskin-Robbins ice cream chain, said the fast food industry was singled out and “wasn’t allowed to have a voice” in the minimum wage debate. The New York’s wage increase still needs approval from the state labor commissioner. Travis cited “reasonable” price increases, refining product preparation and paring down Dunkin’ Donuts’ menu as possible ways to offset wage increases.

Travis talked about his concerns over the hike to $15 an hour. An unintended effect of Seattle’s plan to give every worker a ” living wage” exposed some employees’ not-so-secret motivation: they want more money, but they don’t want to work for it.

“We think that these major corporations can pay more and they still would be making significant profits, but maybe not quite as enormous as they now are”, Finfer said.

California cities, as San Francisco and Los Angeles have taken the same path in terms of imposing the minimum wage in tranches.