Minimum Wage Hike Affects Thousands of Berkshire Workers

Gov. Deval Patrick signs into the law the nation's highest minimum wage.

PITTSFIELD, Mass. — Minimum wage workers just got a boost in Massachusetts.

Gov. Deval Patrick on Thursday signed a bill making the state's minimum wage the highest in the nation, raising it from the current $8 to $11 over the next several years.

According to data from the Massachusetts Budget and Policy Center, the hike will directly affect some 11,000 workers in the greater Pittsfield area and indirectly another 2,600, or about 27 percent of wage earners.

"Today, Massachusetts joins a growing coalition of states that have taken up the president's call to increase wages and ensure no American working full-time has to support a family in poverty," said the White House in a statement. "Governors, state legislatures, and private businesses are leading by taking action, and we urge Congress to join them so that all Americans have the opportunity to succeed."

Opponents have said the increase would negatively impact business and drive up consumer costs. The Massachusetts Restaurant Association has said it was better to create jobs and advancement opportunities rather than raise wages for entry-level workers such as teenagers.

The bill also lowers unemployment insurance costs for employers, is designed to strengthen safety protections for workers and makes permanent the multiagency task force charged with combating the underground economy.

Eight other states have raised minimum wages this year, including Connecticut to $10.10 and Vermont to $10.50. President Obama has been lobbying Congress to set $10.10 as the federal minimum.

Pittsfield City Council Weighs in on 'Crisis' in Public Schools

By Stephen DravisiBerkshires Staff
08:59PM / Monday, December 23, 2024

A half-dozen people addressed the City Council from the floor of Monday's meeting, including Valerie Anderson, right.

PITTSFIELD, Mass. — After expressing anger and outrage and making numerous calls for accountability and transparency, the 11 members of the City Council on Monday voted to support the School Committee in seeking an independent investigation into allegations of misconduct by staff members at Pittsfield High School that have come to light in recent weeks.

 

At the close of a month that has seen three PHS administrators put on administrative leave, including one who was arrested on drug trafficking charges, the revelation that the district is facing a civil lawsuit over inappropriate conduct by a former teacher and that a staff member who left earlier in the year is also under investigation at his current workplace, the majority of the council felt compelled to speak up about the situation.

 

"While the City Council does not have jurisdiction over the schools … we have a duty to raise our voices and amplify your concerns and ensure this crisis is met with the urgency it demands," Ward 5 Councilor Patrick Kavey said.

 

About two dozen community members attended the special meeting of the council, which had a single agenda item.

 

Four of the councilors precipitated the meeting with a motion that the council join the School Committee in its search for an investigation and that the council, "be included in the delivery of any disclosures, interim reports or findings submitted to the city."

 

Last week, the School Committee decided to launch that investigation. On Monday, City Council President Peter White said the School Committee has a meeting scheduled for Dec. 30 to authorize its chair to enter negotiations with the Springfield law firm of Bulkley, Richardson and Gelinas to conduct that probe.

 

Ward 7 Councilor Rhonda Serre, the principal author of the motion of support, was one of several members who noted that the investigation process will take time, and she, like Kavey, acknowledged that the council has no power over the public schools beyond its approval of the annual district budget.