Group delays push for minimum wage boost here

A push to bring a higher minimum wage to Cincinnati will be delayed until next year.

Cincinnatians for a Strong Economy, a group seeking to raise the minimum wage in Cincinnati and require paid sick leave for employees starting in 2016, announced that it will delay its efforts to put a city charter amendment proposal on November’s ballot, calling for higher wages.

In a Facebook post, the group stated it would attempt to get the initiative on the ballot in 2016, rather than 2015.

“This decision was weighed against a careful examination of other issues on the 2015 ballot, as well as projected voter turnout. To be clear, the only aspect of our efforts that have changed is the ballot we will be on,” the statement reads.

Evan Hennessy,,the group’s organizer, came up with the proposal, which included a gradual minimum wage increase to $12.20 an hour in three year increments.

Had the amendment passed, the city’s minimum wage would have increased to $10.10 beginning Nov. 1, 2016; $11.15 on Nov. 1, 2017; and $12.20 on Nov. 1, 2018. After that, the rate would be increased annually either based on the Consumer Product Index or another measure of inflation, Hennessy said in a Facebook post. Ohio, for example, is among the states that annually adjust their minimum wages based on inflation. The federal minimum wage must be increased by Congress; it hasn’t acted, despite a couple years of lobbying by President Barack Obama.

The planned initiative also would have required paid sick time employees who had been working for an employer 60 days or more.

“We can only truly create a strong economy for all when wages and benefits keep pace,” Hennessy said on the group’s Facebook page. Hennessy could not be reached by telephone for an interview.

The organization needed to gather about 6,000 signatures to get on the ballot, and it will need the same number if it tries again in 2016.