Minimum wage earners in Madison will continue to earn $5.70 an hour. That's the ruling a Dane County Judge handed down Thursday.
The city raised wages January 1, and rates will keep increasing over the next four years.
It is something a group of restaurateurs and other business owners are fighting, saying it is not the city's place to raise rates.
Ed Lump from the Wisconsin Restaurant Association says, “We believe if you are going to raise the minimum wage it should be done on a statewide level. When you have islands of different wages created throughout the state, you really do send a message that this is a pretty difficult place to do business in.”
Judge Maryanne Sumi ruled that the Madison ordinance compliments state law by making sure workers are not being paid less than the minimum wage.
There are plans to appeal the decision, and there is a bill pending in the legislature that if passed with the governor's approval could preempt Madison's minimum wage law.
