"the People's Paths!" Cherokee News Path - Council Amends, Passes Minimum Wage Law

TAHLEQUAH, OKLAHOMA – The Cherokee Nation Tribal Council voted to amend a proposed minimum wage law before passing the measure, which will increase the minimum wage at Cherokee Nation and its majority owned businesses to $8 per hour. The amendments narrowed the scope of the act and included exceptions similar to the exceptions in the federal minimum wage law.

The measure passed by a margin of 11-6, even though all Council members were supportive of the concept of raising the minimum wage. Many people, including employees from Cherokee Nation Industries, thought the full impact of the proposal needed more study.

“We’ve got people who’ve worked three years to get to $8 an hour,” said Betty Sue Scott, a 26-year employee of CNI. “Those people are a lot better (at their jobs) than a new employee. If the new people come in at $8 an hour, then everyone else deserves the same kind of raise.”

The costs of raising the minimum wage to $8 was originally projected at less than $1 million a year by Councilman Bill John Baker, who admitted the numbers had changed and may be more than $1 million per year now. That figure did not include raises for anyone making more than $8 an hour currently.

“I want to see the full cost of this minimum wage before we implement it,” said Jack Baker, an at-large representative on the Tribal Council. “If we don’t know how much it’s going to cost (to raise salaries fairly), we should wait.”

The costs of implementing an equitable wage hike, including those making more than $8 an hour, could cost millions of dollars a year. Such a dramatic increase could force some programs to cut back either staff or services in the future, and may hurt the competitiveness of businesses like CNI. Council member Don Garvin proposed phasing in the increase over a period of time, allowing for CNI and the Cherokee Nation to plan budgets to handle the increased cost, but the amendment was voted down.

Because of the failure of the amendment allowing the wage to be phased in, six councilors voted against the bill, even though they were in favor of the concept of raising the minimum wage.

The Council also voted to amend a brand new clause in the Cherokee Nation’s Constitution. The amendment would change the cabinet position of Attorney General to an elected position. In the current Constitution which was recently approved, the position was appointed by the Principal Chief. Under the amendment passed by the Council, the position would now go to a vote of the citizens.

In other action, the Council confirmed the nominations of Brad Carson and Patricia Schramm Edgar as board members of Cherokee Nation Education Corporation, and they passed a resolution recognizing the Friends of Libraries in Oklahoma for honoring Sequoyah and Will Rogers. In addition, the Council voted in favor of future joint meetings with the other two Cherokee tribes, the United Keetoowah Band of Cherokee Indians in Oklahoma and the Eastern Band of Cherokees.