Centenary boosts minimum wage to $10.10

Centenary College in Shreveport will raise its minimum wage to $10.10 an hour in response to President Barack Obama’s State of the Union address Tuesday night.

Twenty-five people employed directly by Centenary or by contractors that provide groundskeeping, housekeeping and food services will get the raise effective immediately, said David Rowe, Centenary College president.

“We’ve reached out to our two major vendors, National Resource Management and Sodexo, and they agreed to join us,” Rowe said. “We are making a principle decision. We hope that will be an inspiration to others, as well.”

Louisiana is one of five states without a minimum wage law.

Four states have minimum wages lower than the federal wage. Twenty-one states and the District of Columbia have state minimum wages higher than the federal minimum, ranging from $7.40 in Michigan to $9.32 in Washington.

The $2.85-an-hour raise for Centenary employees will mean an extra $114 a week for those working full time. Rowe said budget managers are still tallying how much more it will cost the college each year