Plan calls for $13.25 an hour by 2017
LOS ANGELES – City mayor Eric Garcetti has reportedly been in talks with business groups to develop a plan to raise the city’s minimum wage to $13.25 by 2017.
Currently, city’s minimum wage is at $9, which took effect statewide in July under AB10, signed by Gov. Jerry Brown last year. On Jan. 1, 2016, the wage will increase to $10 an hour.
Under Garcetti’s proposal, the minimum wage will go up by $1.50 over the next three years, starting with a rise to $10.25 “immediately.” He is expected to formally introduce the details of the plan this Labor Day.
“One of Mayor Garcetti’s top priorities is to lift Angelenos out of poverty. In recent weeks he has met with business, labor, community and faith leaders to discuss ways to help LA families and our economy thrive,” Jeff Millam, a spokesman for Garcetti said.
Garcetti’s plan differs from others introduced by labor activists and LA City Council. According to an article by the Los Angeles Times, the mayor’s team aims to have the minimum wage escalate to $15 an hour, by 2020.
In July, labor activists presented a proposal for a ballot initiative imposing a minimum wage of $15 an hour for employees who work at least two hours a week under an employer. The council is debating an ordinance that would require $15.37 an hour for hotel workers in the city.
As with any significant push that will affect the labor force and local businesses, this proposal will be met with mixed reactions.
Businessman and philanthropist Eli Broad expressed his support for such a minimum wage increase, stating it would contribute to maintaining Los Angeles’s “world-class“ reputation and improving the local economy.
Stuart Waldman, president of the Valley Industry and Commerce Association and one of the business leaders who met with Garcetti, told the LA Times that the increase is “a huge amount of money to expect a business to shoulder” and would push businesses to “lay people off or move.”
“Any economic incentives like a minimum wage hike would draw [Filipinos] to apply for jobs in Los Angeles because it is out of necessity and survival,” Joanna Conception of the Filipino Migrants Center (FMC) told the Asian Journal.
However, $13.25 will not be enough as the costs of necessities, such as housing, medical care and transportation keep rising, she said. Further, a lot of working Filipinos continue to remit money to family back in the Philippines.
Conception echoed Waldman’s sentiments and said businesses might respond differently in the event of an increase. She cited the example that when Long Beach City Council passed a measure for hospitality workers to earn $13 an hour, hotels cut the employees’ hours, yet added more responsibilities.
She added that attention should also be placed on pushing of “living wages” and preventing “wage theft.”
“Many Filipino workers, especially the undocumented ones and ones [who] work in the informal economy or low-wage industries continue to be paid below the minimum wage because their employers can get away with it and stronger labor law protections still need to be put in place,” she said.
Dennis Huang, Executive Director of the Asian Business Association (ABA) of Los Angeles, added that immigrant entrepreneurs with small businesses will feel the effect of raising minimum wage the most.
If Garcetti’s proposal does gain traction, Los Angeles will follow the footsteps of other cities such as Seattle and San Francisco.
In June, the Seattle City Council raised the minimum wage to $15, which will make it the highest rate in the nation. The ordinance is set to take effect on April 1, 2015.
San Francisco presently stands as the city with one of the highest hourly minimum wages at $10.74. A measure on November’s ballot proposes that it be raised to $15 an hour in 2018.
A recent study by the University of California, Berkeley asserts that over 140,000 individuals (or 23 percent of the workforce)—a significant portion being women and minorities—in San Francisco would benefit from the ballot measure.
As for a change on the federal level, Congress voted against an increase from $7.25 to $10.10 an hour.
(With reports from Los Angeles Times and Associated Press)
(www.asianjournal.com)
(LA Weekend August 30 – September 2, 2014 Sec. A pg.1)
