What do UNR Students Think of the Minimum Wage Ballot Question?
#NevadaVote reporters Chris Darche, Patrick McNabb, and Troy Welling look into Question 2 on the Nevada midterm ballot, and interview low paid student workers to get their thoughts.
Question 2 on the Nevada ballot is all about how in the future the Silver State will go about increasing its minimum wage, as well as how the new minimum wage will interact with healthcare benefits. The current minimum wage in Nevada is $10.50, which is already scheduled to increase in the coming years.
A new minimum wage protocol is being decided as Nevadans face significant increases in monthly payments in rent and even groceries over the last two years.
Per Ballotpedia:
A “yes” vote supports amending the state constitution to:
- increase the minimum wage for all employees in Nevada to $12 per hour by July 1, 2024;
- remove the existing annual inflation adjustments to the minimum wage; and
- allow the state legislature to pass a minimum wage law setting the rate higher than the constitutionally mandated minimum.
A “no” vote opposes this amendment, thereby maintaining the existing increase of the minimum wage to $11 for employees receiving health benefits and $12 for employees not receiving health benefits by 2024 with annual inflation adjustments required by the state constitution.
Let’s be honest, most people, especially workers, want minimum wage increased and many businesses are already leading by example.
Take the fast food industry as an example of where many have their first job at minimum wage and look to try and just get experience. Now, companies like Chick-Fil-A and In-N-Out have increased their minimums for entry jobs to as high as $17 an hour, which is more than even some salaried full-time workers are making with employment requiring a college degree.
For students, on campus jobs have become widely known as one of the worst jobs that anyone can have. With low pay, along with low hours, it is almost impossible for anyone working on the campus of a university to afford what they need to get by without any other supplementary income.
Our reporting team went around the UNR campus for the student’s take on the increase of the minimum wage being decided at the ballot box. The views of the workers we interviewed do not reflect the views of the Reynolds Sandbox.
Ryan Fain, a 21-year-old nursing major, works in the IT department for the School of Medicine. Currently, he is making $11.25 per hour. Before transferring to the IT department, he worked a desk job for the School of Public health and was making $9 per hour. In the clip above, Fain shares his struggles with making a low wage.
Brandon Mick is an 18-year-old student who works in the building operations department at the Joe Crowley Student Union. He is usually found at the front desk information center making $10.75 per hour. Mick grew up in California where the minimum wage is $15 per hour. In the clip above, Mick discussed his feelings on the rise of the minimum wage.
Alexandra Wyld, 20, a Reno native, can be found at the check out desk at the @One in the Mathewson-IGT Knowledge Center. Wyld chose not to disclose how much she was getting paid, but did tell us that it was less than what a fast food worker makes. It can be assumed that she makes around what other interviewees make. Wyld says she will be voting Yes.
Damien Vinci, 31, works at the check out desk in the Reynolds School of Journalism. Making more than minimum wage, Vinci hinted at his struggles with making a low wage in the clip above.
An important thing to note is that none of the workers we interviewed have health benefits from their job. In fact, health benefits are not offered for on campus jobs. Many student workers that we interviewed were still on their parent’s healthcare plan. This means if you are cut off from your parents, or 26 or older, then you will have to pay for a healthcare plan out of your own pocket.
The university seems to purposely limit the hours that students can work to ensure that they don’t have to provide a healthcare plan to student workers. Every week, student workers have a max amount of hours that they can work, which usually ranges between 10–20 hours.
There is an obvious theme between all of the workers that we interviewed. What they are making now is barely enough to buy groceries from paycheck to paycheck. Pack Provisions which helps with food donations on campus has reported a thousand students coming through their doors in September. For more information on Pack provisions, listen to Chris Darche’s podcast here (and above).
Many students believe that raising the minimum wage to $12 per hour still won’t be enough. All of the students that we talked to agreed that a good goal to strive for would be $15 per hour. This would give workers enough to afford food while still paying all of the bills they were previously paying.
