Apr 16, 2021 (The Daily Poster)<\/a><\/a><\/a><\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table>\n\n\n\n
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<\/figure>\n\n\n\nSens. Kyrsten Sinema, left, and Joe Manchin (Photo credit: Zach Gibson and Patrick Smith\/Getty Images)<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n This report was written by David Sirota, Andrew Perez, and Joel Warner.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Weeks after voting to kill a $15 minimum wage, Sens. Kyrsten Sinema and Joe Manchin will headline<\/a> the national conference of the restaurant lobbying group that led the battle to block the wage increase and is fighting<\/a> a separate Democratic measure to make it easier for workers to form unions. Both lawmakers have also recently raked in campaign cash from corporate interests that have been fighting a minimum wage increase.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Sinema and Manchin will join disgraced former Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel<\/a> next week in speeches at a conference held by the National Restaurant Association (NRA), according to the conference agenda. The NRA has been aggressively lobbying<\/a> against Democrats\u2019 proposed minimum wage hike and labor legislation. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Manchin and Sinema, who represent West Virginia and Arizona respectively, will be featured on panels entitled \u201cSeeking Unity: Conversations on Finding Bipartisan Solutions.\u201d The event<\/a> is the NRA\u2019s annual \u201cpublic affairs conference,\u201d which in Washington-speak means it is for lobbyists and focused on shaping legislation. <\/p>\n\n\n\n The conference event registration page says it \u201cis an off the record event closed to press.\u201d The schedule says it will also feature former George W. Bush spokesperson and Fox News personality Dana Perino.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The two Democrats, who were not on the NRA\u2019s original<\/a> event schedule<\/a>, have been working<\/a>recently<\/a> with Republicans to replace Democrats\u2019 $15 minimum wage proposal with a lower wage \u2014 reportedly $11, which is lower than Arizona\u2019s current minimum wage. It\u2019s not clear yet whether their proposal<\/a>, which hasn\u2019t been released, would eliminate the lower subminimum wage for workers like restaurant servers who rely on tips. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Manchin and Sinema will each appear at the virtual conference for conversations with NRA vice president Sean Kennedy, who has been the public face<\/a> of the opposition to federal minimum wage legislation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThe Raise the Wage Act imposes an impossible challenge for the restaurant industry,\u201d Kennedy said<\/a> in a statement earlier this year. \u201cA nationwide increase in the minimum wage will create insurmountable costs for many operators in states.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Meanwhile, executives of the NRA\u2019s own member restaurant chains \u2014 including Denny\u2019s, McDonald\u2019s, Domino\u2019s and the Cheesecake Factory \u2014 have been telling<\/a> their investors that they will not be significantly harmed by a higher minimum wage. <\/p>\n\n\n\n To the contrary, Denny\u2019s chief financial officer, Robert Verostek, said in a February earnings call that California\u2019s law raising the minimum wage to $15 by 2023 has been good for the diner chain\u2019s business. <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cAs they’ve increased their minimum wage kind of in a tempered pace over that time frame, if you look at that time frame from us, California has outperformed the system,\u201d Verostek said. \u201cOver that time frame, they had six consecutive years of positive guest traffic \u2014 not just positive sales, but positive guest traffic \u2014 as the minimum wage was going up.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n In the weeks after Sinema and Manchin cast their votes to block a $15 minimum wage, another group lobbying against minimum wage and labor legislation, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, rewarded<\/a> them with campaign contributions. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Last year, the Chamber awarded<\/a> Sinema with their inaugural \u201cAbraham Lincoln Leadership for America Award\u201d as well as their \u201cJefferson-Hamilton Award for Bipartisanship.\u201d Her Senate office noted in a press release that \u201cSinema was the only Democrat to win both awards.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Both senators are also opposing calls for Democrats to eliminate the filibuster, a stand that will likely block Democrats\u2019 landmark labor reform legislation<\/a>, the Protecting the Right to Organize (PRO) Act, that would make it easier for workers to form unions. <\/p>\n\n\n\n According to The Intercept<\/a><\/em>, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., has told labor leaders that he will bring the PRO Act to the floor as soon as it has 50 cosponsors. Manchin and Sinema are two of only five Democrats<\/a> who have yet to sign on. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Sinema recently received<\/a> donations from political action committees for Barnes & Thornburg, Cozen O\u2019Connor and Steptoe & Johnson \u2014 three law firms that advertise<\/a> their services<\/a> helping corporations<\/a> halt union drives among workers. Data<\/a> compiled by OpenSecrets show that during Sinema\u2019s career, her seventh largest collective source of campaign money has been contributors from Snell & Wilmer, a law firm whose website<\/a> says it has \u201cadvised clients and provided management training on lawful union avoidance strategies, strikes, union corporate campaigns, and litigation with unions.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n Manchin\u2019s eighth largest<\/a> collective source of campaign cash has been donors from Steptoe & Johnson, whose website<\/a> says that \u201con behalf of some of the largest employers in the world, our highly regarded labor relations team handles collective bargaining, union organizing campaigns, representation elections, unfair labor practice charges and other [National Labor Relations Board] proceedings.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n Sinema became the public face of the Democrats\u2019 failure to implement the minimum wage when she blocked Sen. Bernie Sanders\u2019 already-doomed<\/a> attempt to add the provision back into Democrats\u2019 COVID-19 relief legislation with an overly dramatic thumbs-down<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Only a few years ago, Sinema was an outspoken proponent of a higher minimum wage, tweeting<\/a> that an increase should be a \u201cno brainer.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n Prior to that, she told a progressive group<\/a> that she went into politics because she was angry that underprivileged people in her community \u201cjust weren’t able to get past that place of poverty and dependence to a place of self-sufficiency and interdependence.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n This newsletter relies on readers pitching in to support it. If you like what you just read and want to help expand this kind of journalism, consider becoming a paid subscriber by clicking this link<\/a>.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\nSenators Added To Event After They Blocked $15 Wage<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n
PAC Cash From Corporate Interests<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n
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