Berkeley City Council passes minimum wage law for $15 in 2018

[Recursion]

http://www.berkeleyside.com/2016/08/26/berkeley-council-passes-minimum-wage-law-for-15-in-2018/

Berkeley City Council unanimously approved a new law Friday that will see the city’s minimum wage increase to $15 in 2018.

The vote came during an unusual Friday morning special session of the council, after weeks of negotiation to resolve a battle between two competing minimum wage ballot measures. One of those, the council-approved Measure BB, would reach $15 by 2019; the other, labor-supported Measure CC, would reach $15 in 2017.

“This is a consensus document,” said Councilman Laurie Capitelli, who said it involved 40 or 50 hours of meetings over the last few weeks. “I don’t consider it a compromise document.”

The new law will make Berkeley one of the first jurisdictions in the country to reach a $15 an hour minimum wage. San Francisco will reach the $15 mark on July 1, 2018. Berkeley’s $15 wage starts on October 1, 2018.

[packman]

1. And how does this help those seeking affordable living in those places?

"Overall, Berkeley, California cost of living is 231.10." - in other words, Berkeley is 2.31 times more expensive to live - housing, food, medical, etc. - than the average U.S. community.

Other city, regions (have to sign in to use their maps)

http://www.bestplaces.net/cost_of_living/city/california/berkeley

[Recursion]

2. The median household income in Berkeley is about $60K

Two earners making the minimum wage would make the current median household income

[Igel]

4. However households in poverty are disproportionately

single-earner.

We don't hear about how two-income families are doing. We hear about the bottom 10%, and how it's hard to live on minimum wage if you're a single parent with children. That's the argument to achieve higher minimum wages; arguing that this is sufficient and Berkeley is good because a two-breadwinner family can make median wages in an above-average expensive community seems to fall short.

Not because it's a bad argument. But because it's one set of holes for the goalposts that are usually put elsewhere whenever minimum wage is discussed. It's part of the rigging of society for the poorest 5% instead of the majority good.

I don't live in a wealthy area. Median household income is 50k/year. Mostly two-parent families, but that's because of a Great Washout a few years ago where those who had separated or divorced or were laid off defaulted on their loans and scrammed. A lot of current families also have kids who are working and whose parents make them pay rent. Even now there are a few houses where piles of crap magically appeared on the curb in the last month and the long grass was suddenly cut ... new owners or a "for sale" sign is expected any day now.

[DirkGently]

3. It can be done, it seems. n/t

[Recursion]

5. In the richest and most liberal city in the country, after years

And including some troubling compromises. But, yes, it can be done.

[DirkGently]

6. It's hardly just in San Francisco.

Kinda looks like political will is the only thing required. That and not swallowing the corporate P.R. about what a crushing burden paying people something resembling a living wage might be.

New York

How it Happened: A wage board appointed by Gov. Andrew Cuomo presented a recommendation Wednesday to increase the minimum wage for fast food workers to $15 per hour across the state, up from the current $8.75. Cuomo has enthusiastically backed the initiative.


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Seattle

How it Happened: Mayor Ed Murray made increasing the minimum wage one of his first priorities when taking office at the start of 2014. In May of that year, he put forth a proposal to increase the city’s minimum wage from Washington state’s rate of $9.32 to to $15 over several years. The city council approved the measure a month later.

(SNIP)

San Francisco

How it Happened: City residents voted by a large majority to raise the city’s minimum wage from $10.74 to $15 last November

(SNIP

Los Angeles

How it Happened: The Los Angeles city council voted in May to increase the local minimum wage to $15 by 2020, up from the current $9. This week the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors also voted to increase the minimum wage to $15 for people working in unincorporated parts of the county.

http://time.com/3969977/minimum-wage/

[Recursion]

7. New York passed a $12.50 minimum wage

with $15 in the City and Westchester County.

After 7 years, the law says the legislature may raise the minimum wage outside of the City and Westchester County to $15, but it doesn't have to, and the state Department of Labor can block it.

It was absolutely infuriating to see people who excoriated Clinton for saying "$12 nationally and $15 in large cities" cheer the New York plan, which was exactly that.