Instead of talking with working class people about the Michigan Court’s minimum wage increase decision, the local news talks to the GR Chamber of Commerce

Recently, the Michigan Supreme Court ruled 4-3 that an “adopt-and-amend” tactic used by the Republican-controlled Legislature in 2018 was unconstitutional. This means that the minimum wage in Michigan could go up to $12 an hour (it’s only $10.33 an hour right now) and that businesses would be required to provide paid sick leave.

While any increase in the minimum wage in Michigan is a good thing, just raising it to $12 an hour in 2025 is still grossly inadequate for people to make a living. The National Low Income Housing Coalition has stated that for people living in Grand Rapids they would have to make $25.50 an hour to afford the average rental costs in this city. 

One would think that upon hearing about the Michigan Supreme Court ruling that local news agencies would have wanted to talk with working class people, especially those in the service industry. Unfortunately, WOODTV8 decided to talk with the Grand Rapids Chamber of Commerce on their reaction to the slight increase in the minimum wage for Michigan.

The channel 8 story not only avoids talking to workers, especially those who make the minimum wage, they provide a platform for the Grand Rapids Chamber of Commerce, which has consistently opposed a raise in the minimum wage. The GR Chamber’s position on opposing an increase in the minimum wage is also reflected in which political candidates they make campaign contributions to at the state level. 

The Grand Rapids Chamber of Commerce spokesperson that news 8 spoke with was Josh Lunger, who was quoted as saying: 

“Our team’s going to be working with the administration, the Legislature, departments and our other peer associations across the state in trying to get further details. And then try to see if there’s a consensus, bipartisan consensus, to fix some of the concerns that we have, particularly for small employers and for those in the service industry.”

The WOODTV8 reporter either didn’t know the history that the GR Chamber has with opposing minimum wage increases and their desire to only represent “labor costs” for businesses. If channel 8 had a sharp reporter, they should have at least asked tough questions to the GR Chamber spokesperson and challenged them around their consistent opposition to increasing the minimum wage. 

Local reporters would only have to look at the GR Chamber of Commerce’s website, specifically the State Policy recaps they provide on a regular basis to members, such as the one from July of 2023, which stated: Repeal of a Right-to-Work and prevailing wage were the first big dominoes to fall over business community opposition. 

The GR Chamber of Commerce even posted about the Michigan Supreme Court ruling last week, complaining about the hardship it will cause for Michigan businesses, both on the wages issue and the paid sick leave requirements.

One wonders why local news agencies are so removed from the economic realities of working class people, that they chose to get a powerful business association to talk on camera, a business association that has opposed minimum wage increases and other basic labor rights since they were founded in 1887.