Newly published emails reveal that the Seattle mayor's office coordinated with academics and a union public relations firm to rush a study purporting to downplay job and wage losses associated with a $15 minimum wage.
Democratic Mayor Ed Murray's office turned to the University of California, Berkeley, to rush a study alleging that the city's $15 minimum wage legislation benefitted the economy to counter a forthcoming study from the University of Washington that found that the massive wage hike cost low-skilled and entry-level workers $179 a month. The mayor's office asked Berkeley economist Michael Reich to remove any reference to the Washington study to prevent it from receiving exposure.
"Leave the critique of the UW study until later," mayoral staffer Carlo Caldirola-Davis said in an email obtained through a public records request from the pro-free market think tank Employment Policies Institute. "The release still calls out the UW study. Don't want your positive news to serve as a teaser for the UW study."
...The paper removed any mention of the forthcoming University of Washington study, which found the decline in wages as the city raised wages to $13 an hour....
Reich also coordinated with liberal PR giant BerlinRosen, which has received millions from labor unions to assist the Fight for $15 movement, to draw attention to the study. He exchanged emails with two different staffers, Rob Duffey and Daniel Massey, to craft a press release and arrange leaks to an AP reporter. Neither Duffey nor Massey returned requests for comment.
..."These emails are further proof that the Berkeley team is motivated by ideology, not evidence," Saltsman told the Washington Free Beacon. "The contrast with the University of Washington team is not a flattering one: While Berkeley rushed its results to meet a political timeline, the UW team took its time to solicit scholarly feedback to refine its results."
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