In the state of Florida, minimum wage will be increasing at the end of the month

Jacksonville, Fla. — Minimum wage will increase by one dollar by the end of September.

The owner of Angie’s Subs tells Action News Jax it’s great the state is raising minimum wage, but since the cost of living went up, he says lawmakers should consider increasing it again.

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“Minimum wage... it’s kind of a conundrum,” Ed Malin said.

With minimum wage increasing for many Floridians, Angie’s Subs owner Ed Malin tells Action News Jax our state lawmakers should consider increasing minimum wage even further to help workers fight inflation.

“I would say to politicians, if we’re gonna raise the minimum wage and if the goal of raising the minimum wage is to lift people out of poverty, why are we stopping there?” Malin said.

He opened Angie’s Subs nearly 20 years ago in Jacksonville Beach and has been serving hot subs ever since.

Despite minimum wage increasing, Malin says he’s never paid his employees minimum wage.

”I have never paid minimum wage here. We’ve always paid over minimum wage. I think our average is… like $17.50 an hour,” Malin said.

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In 2020, Floridians voted to increase minimum wage by a dollar each year.

Tipped employees will be getting a raise from $6.78 to $7.78.

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This is all for an effort to have minimum wage increase to $15 an hour by 2026.

A Jacksonville neighbor says it still won’t be enough for workers.

”If they give the $15 , they need to put some stuff down. Like in the market, food, everything out, put it down... like gas.” Malin said.

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