By KARL PUCKETT
Tribune Staff Writer
John Chittenden says Montana’s new minimum wage, which boosts hourly pay to $6.15 an hour and calls for annual cost-of-living increases, will help him make ends meet. He’s a new fry cook at Howard’s Pizza in Great Falls. “The cost of living rises every year and it will certainly help toward the cost of living alone — bills, utilities, rent and what not,” the 55-year-old Chittenden said.
For the first time since 1997, Montana’s minimum hourly pay went up. The new pay of $6.15, up $1, took effect across the state Monday, New Year’s Day. Cost-of-living increases, based on the Consumer Price Index, will be implemented each year. Initiative 151 was approved by voters in the November election and it’s expected to increase the wages of 25,000 employees whom the state Department of Labor estimates make less than $6.15 an hour. Several Great Falls business owners said it would also increase prices residents pay for pizza, fast food and other products. The one-time wage increase wasn’t that big of deal, they added, but they worry about the annual adjustments. “I’m not against it, but it just passes off to you if you buy a pizza,” said Buzz Erb, one of the owners of Howard’s. Anticipating the minimum wage increase, Howard’s gave 50-cent raises to its employees six months ago, no matter what they earned. It has 70 full- and part-time employees at four stores in Great Falls. “So it’s a pretty big jump for us,” Erb said. Bill Himmelberg, who owns four McDonald’s in Great Falls, said the cost of living increases “could definitely get out of hand.”
Price increases are inevitable, he said. “We’ve already raised our prices.” More than 200 employees work at the four McDonald’s. Per-hour pay was raised from $5.75 to $6.50, 35 cents above the minimum wage, in anticipation of the state-imposed increased. “I wanted to stay in that range where we were above minimum wage,” Himmelberg said. Most of the employees make well above $6.50, he said. Rick Mohler, the owner of 12 Papa John’s in Idaho and Montana, including two in Great Falls, said price increases were put in place a few months ago to cover the wage increases. “I think our competitors are going to do the same thing,” he said. There are 175 pizza delivery drivers at the 12 Papa John’s stores whose hourly wage is going up as a result of the minimum wage increase.
When tips are included, Mohler said, those drivers already make as much as $15 an hour when tips are included. It’s one of the best jobs an unskilled worker can find. Mohler said a proposal to raise the federal minimum wage from $5.15 to $7.25 an hour over two years is preferable to the annual increases Montanans have approved. “I hope that Montanans will adopt a federal minimum wage for the legislation for the state versus having an annual CPI increase,” he said, adding, “and let me give pay raises based on merit and performance.” The minimum wage increase does not affect the 1,800 members of Laborers Local 1686 because their wages usually are more than double the minimum wage, said the union’s representative, Brian Boland. The union is made up of public employees and construction workers. The union still backed the increase. Boland said workers in fast food, cleaning, bartending and various other services often have to work two to three jobs just to make a living in Montana. “We believe the people deserve a living wage,” he said. Monday evening, Chittenden tended to French fries and other food being deep-fried at the Howard’s Pizza at 4300 3Ave. S. It was his fifth day on the job. “I knew it was going to happen, and I’m thankful that it did, but it wasn’t something I was really worried too much about,” Chittenden said.
