Cherokee Nation Businesses is following the tribal government’s suit and increasing its minimum wage for hundreds of workers.
The board of directors is raising minimum wage to $11 an hour. Lower-paid workers making above $11 an hour will also get raises.
"This is going to affect over 2,500 employees across our businesses, which range, of course, from gaming to manufacturing … to the whole gamut of the diversified portfolio we have," said Cherokee Nation Principal Chief Chuck Hoskin Jr.
Officials announced CNB's minimum wage hike Wednesday in Stilwell. Hoskin said the tribe’s business holdings are doing well.
"During the past eight years, they’ve been performing wonderfully. Profits and revenue are up. I think the scope of services that we provide to our people on the government side is up, and we just have a hard-working workforce," Hoskin said.
Hoskin said the minimum wage increase is not only a reward for hard work, but it’s also an economic development strategy.
"I mean, we’re the largest employer in the region, and if you inject millions upon millions of dollars into the economy through paying the lowest-paid employees a better wage, what you’ve really done is you’ve strengthened the communities in which they live, where they’re spending money, where they’re raising families," Hoskin said.
