Reynolds: Wage Increases Not State's Responsibility

The issue of worker shortages at restaurants has come up again as nine Burger King employees quit en masse over working conditions in Lincoln, Nebraska. The workers’ actions went viral after they put up on the restaurant’s sign “We all quit,” later explaining to local news that they were working 50 to 60 hours a week and had no air conditioning in the kitchen.

Concern about workplace shortages is also happening in Iowa. The Iowa Restaurant Association has reported half of the state’s restaurants are operating about 20 percent below needed staffing levels and 92 percent are looking for staff.

Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds said Monday it isn’t the state’s role to get involved with issues such as wages. Instead, she said it should be “market-driven,” echoing what Nebraska Gov. Pete Ricketts said about employers choosing to raise wages or provide benefits as they see fit.

“We want to help Iowans retrain, reskill, match them up with the opportunities that exist across the state,” Reynolds said. “So that’s the role that government should be playing. Not supplementing or being in competition with the federal government to keep people home.”

Read more: https://iowastartingline.com/2021/07/13/reynolds-wage-increases-not-states-responsibility/