NEW JERSEY – Join us Tuesday Jan 21, 2020 as John Edmunds IV sits down with Fernando Uribe, Ph.D., Host-Politically Direct via Insider NJ & Imani Oakley, Legislative Director of NJ Working Families Alliance to explore what the NJ minimum wage increase means to business owners and residents.

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NJ Governor Phillip Murphy signed legislation on February 4, 2019 which allowed for gradually raising the minimum wage up to $15 an hour for most workers by 2024. The increase would occur in $1 increments each year beginning in January.

Photo courtesy of Fernando Uribe

Fernando Uribe, Ph.D. serves as host and executive producer of Politically Direct for Insider NJ. Uribe also works as Professor in Division of Social Sciences at Bergen Community College. Fernando also hosts Talking Politics with the Hudson Media Group cable program serving Hudson County, NJ residents.

Uribe completed his Doctor of Philosophy in Global Affairs from Rutgers University in 2011. Uribe graduated with two Masters in Criminal Justice & Global Affairs from Rutgers University.

Photo courtesy of Imani Oakley’s Twitter

Imani Oakley, Esq. currently serves as N.J. Legislative Director & Regional Organizer at New Jersey Working Families. Oakley also served as Deputy Chief of Staff to Assemblywoman Britnee N. Timberlake (D) in 2019. She also received her Juris Doctorate from Howard University School of Law and a Masters from New York University.

Small business owners across the state have raised costs of services to adjust to the increase in operation costs. On January 1, 2020, the franchise owner of the North Jersey Sky Zone chain raised the costs of purchases at all North NJ Sky Zone locations by $1 to reflect $1 min wage increase.

Sky Zone franchise owner went the extra mile to notify all patrons of this wage increase and the reason behind it which resonated poorly with public opinion. One day after this article ran, Sky Zone reversed their decision and explained they would explore other ways to maintain operating costs.

The round table discussion will be simulcasted live at 8PM on our YouTube, Facebook, Periscope & Twitter pages to accommodate our viewers’ needs and preferences.