IT’S THE PARTY TO THE PARTY
HOP ON BOARD THE ARKANSAS TIMES
BLUES BUS
50 5)& ,*/( #*4$6*5 #-6&4 '&45*7"- 0$50#&3 r "5 )&-&/"
RUCKER: The assistant manager at a KFC says “a dollar extra would be significant.�
with headliner
Gregg Allman
$9 9 PER PERSON
PRICE INCLUDES: t 306/% 53*1 5063 #64 53"/41035"5*0/ t 5*$,&54 */50 5)& ("5&% $0/$&35 "3&" Bus transportation provided by
ARROW COACH LINES
t -6/$) "5 $3"*( 4 #"3#&$6& */ %&7"--4 #-6'' t -*7& #-6&4 1&3'03."/$&4 &/ 3065& 50 )&-&/" t 1-64 #&7&3"(&4 0/ #0"3%
CHARGE BY PHONE (ALL MAJOR CREDIT CARDS)
501-375-2985
OR MAIL CHECK OR MONEY-ORDER TO Arkansas Times Blues Bus Box 34010 ¡ Little Rock, AR ¡ 72203 18
SEPTEMBER 26, 2013
ARKANSAS TIMES
from $8.26 to $8.44, according to the Arkansas Occupational Employment and Wages publication of the state Department of Workforce Services. Montine McNulty, director of the Arkansas Hospitality Association, which lobbies for the restaurant, lodging and tourism industry, said the association opposed the $2 increase in the state minimum wage that Rep. Wilkins’ bill would have implemented. “I’m really here to speak on behalf of the mom and pop employers,� she told the house committee, who are faced with high fuel, employment taxes, “increased regulation� and labor costs. She said there was “fear and uncertainty about what it’s going to cost businesses for health care. All of those things make [a raise in the minimum wage] a really scary thing. ... I feel hours would be cut. ... A lot pay wages based on what demand is and what they have to pay to get good employees. That’s a good way to do it.� But here’s what Bryan Rucker, 25, an assistant manager at a Taco Bell/Kentucky Fried Chicken fast food outlet in Little Rock, thinks: If he could offer his employees $8.25 an hour, his employer might even save money. “$7.25 is a slap in the face,� Rucker said. He said higher wages give people a “greater incentive to work.� Rucker says he tries to pay starting wages at $7.50, a bit higher than the federal minimum of $7.25. “A dollar an hour [extra] would be significant,� he said. “If you’re good, I try to give you as many hours as I can,� Rucker said “If I had a crew of three who worked really hard,
I wouldn’t have to work extra people.� Some minimum wage workers, Rucker said, come in “angry at the world,� put in their four hours and leave. Those folks may not stick around. He has a cashier, on the other hand, who works so hard and has been so helpful she’s already gotten a promotion. Rucker knows what it’s like to work hard. After he got out of the Army, he worked two jobs, as a tattoo artist and at Sports Academy. He made pretty good money, thanks to long hours and decent pay from the tattoo job and long hours, on top of the 20 to 30 hours at Sports Academy. But he had to give up the tattooing thanks to wrist strain from his Army job as a machine gunner, so he moved to Walmart, where he was paid $7.65 an hour and worked full-time, and kept the part-time job at Sports Academy as well. Rucker quit those jobs to go back to school to complete his bachelor’s degree in music (he plays saxophone and euphonium), but he still worked, this time at Bale Honda. After he got the degree, he got the management job at Taco BellKentucky Fried Chicken, where he is paid a salary of $29,030 a year. He works 50 hours a week, which works out to a little over $10 an hour. When he works more than 50 hours a week, he’s paid what he calls “Chinese overtime� — $5 for every extra hour. Rucker is paying for his fiancee’s tuition at Remington and supporting her child and his child on the pay. Would his employers be supportive of raising the minimum wage? No, he says. They believe they’d lose money.