Leading manufacturers and retailers in the fast-growing natural and organic products industry joined with Dr. Bronner’s, Business for a Fair Minimum Wage and The Fairness Project to launch the Fair Pay Today Campaign. Fair Pay Today is bringing the message that raising the minimum wage is “Good for Business, Good for Us All!” direct to consumers through special product labels, in-store displays, social media, product giveaways and support of ballot initiatives, including donating to campaigns working to raise the minimum wage.
The Fair Pay Today Campaign includes companies such as Dr. Bronner’s, the top natural soap brand in North America, Alter Eco, Badger Balm, Earth Friendly Products/makers of ECOS, Guayaki, Maggie’s Organics, Maine Root, Organic India USA, Organic Valley, Stonyfield, Seventh Generation, Topricin, Cambridge Naturals, MOM’s Organic Market and many more. These and other companies are putting their brands on the line to show that fair pay is a key ingredient in healthy products and raising the minimum wage is vital for a healthy economy.
Companies in the Fair Pay Today Campaign have all signed the Business for a Fair Minimum Wage statement calling for a federal minimum wage of at least $12 by 2020. Currently, the federal minimum wage is not sufficient for basic necessities. It has been set at $7.25 an hour – just $15,080 a year – since 2009. Fair Pay Today is supporting minimum wage ballot initiative campaigns in states such as Colorado and Maine, where company representatives will host in-store conversations about the benefits of supporting these initiatives for better wages.
The natural products industry is one of America’s fastest growing industries, and organic is the fastest growing sector of the U.S. food industry. Consumer sales of natural and organic products are expected to grow 64 percent between 2013 and 2019 – with a compound average growth rate more than 4 times the projected growth rate of mainstream consumer packaged goods.
“Companies in the Fair Pay Today Campaign are creating the good jobs of the future, and it shows in their bottom lines,” said Holly Sklar, CEO of Business for a Fair Minimum Wage. “Raising the minimum wage is key to ending the race to the bottom mindset of low-wage employers that has been toxic for our economy and communities across America. Fair pay boosts businesses and the economy with increased employee retention and productivity, better customer service and increased consumer buying power.”
“Businesses and communities are working together to raise the minimum wage and build a thriving economy where everyone succeeds,” said Ryan Johnson, executive director of The Fairness Project, a national organization utilizing ballot initiatives to take on economic inequality. “The businesses in the Fair Pay Today Campaign prove every day that well-run businesses can pay fair wages and thrive.”
“Paying workers less than a living wage creates a corporate welfare system in which public funds supplement unlivable low wages,” said David Bronner, CEO of Dr. Bronner’s, which has created special Fair Pay Today labels for its best-selling liquid soap products. “It’s time to fight for a fair minimum wage, and in doing so raise the standard for businesses’ responsibility toward their employees.”
“Raising the minimum wage is good business strategy,” said Scott Nash, owner and CEO of MOM’s Organic Market, the Mid-Atlantic region’s premier chain of family owned and operated organic grocery stores. “Fair pay is a high-return strategic investment that leads to a more productive and engaged workforce and happier customers. Consumers appreciate the difference fair pay makes in our business and their lives.”
“A higher minimum wage makes good business sense,” said Aurora and Lou Paradise, founding partners of Topricin, New York’s Small Business Biomedical Company of the Year 2016. “Our business has always paid well above the minimum wage because it’s right for our people and without them we would not have the successful business that we do.” See their label with a Fair Pay Today sticker here.
“We invest in our employees and their families,” said Kyle Garner, CEO of Organic India USA, which is based in Colorado where an initiative to raise the minimum wage to $12 by 2020 is on the ballot. “We see greater employee retention and engagement, and our employees invest their earnings in local communities by spending on products and services. Raising the minimum wage is good for our whole community.”
To learn more about Fair Pay Today visit www.fairpaytoday.org.
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About Fair Pay Today
The Fair Pay Today Campaign, led by Business for a Fair Minimum Wage, The Fairness Project and Dr. Bronner’s, brings together leading natural products manufacturers and retailers to take the message that raising the minimum wage is “Good for Business, Good for Us All” direct to consumers through product labels, store displays, social media, events and more.
About Business for a Fair Minimum Wage
Business for a Fair Minimum Wage is a national network of business owners and executives and business organizations that believe a fair minimum wage makes good business sense.
About Dr. Bronner’s
Dr. Bronner’s is the top-selling brand of soap in the natural marketplace. The brand’s commitment to progressive business practices including fair pay, promoting sustainable agriculture, corporate accountability, and consumers’ right to know is part of the company’s mission to put into practice the social and ecological principles that inform Dr. Bronner’s philosophy printed on the company’s iconic soap labels.
About The Fairness Project
The Fairness Project is a national organization dedicated to bolstering ballot initiative campaigns and driving a national narrative around economic fairness. In 2016, The Fairness Project is engaged in nearly every significant ballot initiative campaign to raise the minimum wage, working with partner organizations to improve the lives of millions of Americans.
