THE Long Beach City Council on Wednesday, Jan. 20, voted 6-2 to create a pathway to gradually raise the minimum wage to $10.50 per hour by 2017, $12 in 2018 and $13 by 2019.
The council approved the wage measure Wednesday morning after midnight, following a lengthy meeting that began the evening of Tuesday, Jan. 19, involving nearly two-and-a-half hours of public testimony from restaurant owners and low-wage workers who argued for and against the wage raise.
Supported by Long Beach Mayor Robert Garcia, the council’s decision follows that of the City of Los Angeles’, which last year approved a minimum wage raise to $15 per hour by 2020.
The council further voted to commission a study that would examine the effects of the higher wages on the economy. If it finds that the impacts are positive, the city’s minimum wage would rise to $14 in 2020 and $15 in 2021.
It also voted to ask the city attorney to draft an ordinance that will be voted on next month, according to the OC Register.
Under the proposed measure, employers would be allowed to pay a “training wage” that is 85 percent of the minimum wage to interns for the first 480 hours, or six months, of employment, the Register reported.
Non-profit organizations and small businesses employing 25 workers or less have an additional year to raise their wages.
Many workers were in support of boosting the minimum wage in Long Beach. Among advocates for the motion was the Filipino Migrant Center (FMC), a non-profit organization dedicated to organizting and mobilizing low-income and working-class Filipinos that conducted a month-long survey about the issue last November. Ninety-six percent of residents were in support of higher wages, according to the survey.
“We know working families are struggling right now,” said community activist Nikole Cababa, according to Inquirer. “We were pushing for $15 as soon as possible. This victory is a critical step forward to addressing low wages in Long Beach, but we know strong wage enforcement is necessary.”
Long Beach restaurant worker Roberto Ramirez was also happy with the council’s vote.
“I have spent 17 years working in the kitchens of Long Beach restaurants, but I have never seen real value to my work due to how little I am paid with no benefits,” he said, according to a statement from Raise the Wage, a coalition working to boost the minimum wage to $15, along with enforcement provisions and paid sick days, to lift thousands of workers out of poverty. “I put faith in my city’s leadership to give me a $15/hour wage I can live on to support my family, without having to rely on working two jobs.”
Minimum wage hikes have typically received opposition from business groups that argue increases could lead to higher prices for products and services, or layoffs by employers who are unable to keep their number of employees at raised salaries.
However, a study conducted by the Los Angeles County Economic Development Corporation found that most employers in Long Beach would respond to the wage hike by raising prices rather than laying off employees.
During public testimony on the issue, restaurant owners said employee tips should count toward the minimum wage requirement. City Attorney Charles Parkin, however, said doing so could result in litigation, the Long Beach Press-Telegram reported.
The final public speaker for the evening was a man who identified himself as a restaurant owner. He said increasing the minimum wage was nothing but a “ludicrous” and inflationary policy, the Long Beach Press-Telegram reported.
“You people that still have jobs will pay $16 for a hamburger,” he predicted.
In addition to the Long Beach minimum wage hike, supporters of raising California’s minimum wage collected more than 600,000 petition signatures to submit a November ballot initiative Tuesday to boost California’s minimum wage, which is currently $10 per hour.
The measure proposes increasing the state’s minimum wage to $11 in 2017, and $1 each year after until it hits $15 in 2021. Upon reaching $15, minimum wage would be adjusted automatically every year based on the cost of living.
