Los Angeles County votes to raise minimum wage to $15 by 2020
Source: ABC News
LOS ANGELES (KABC) --
The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors voted Tuesday to incrementally raise the minimum wage to $15 an hour in unincorporated areas of the county over the next five years.
The decision Tuesday made the county the latest government entity in the nation to signal support for a higher base wage.
County lawyers will now draft a proposed law gradually increasing the wage mark, which the board will consider later this year.
If approved, the hourly wage would increase in steps until it hits $15 in 2020. Small businesses will have until 2021 to meet the wage increase.
Then, beginning in 2022, the wage would be increased annually based on inflation, according to the proposal.
The vote comes just weeks after the city of Los Angeles took a similar step to fatten paychecks for employees at the lower-rung of the economy, making it the largest city in America to guarantee the minimum wage of $15.
Many people attended a rally outside of City Hall Tuesday morning in downtown Los Angeles. Supporters say there are many people in the county that work full time that can barely make ends meet.
Read more: http://abc7.com/news/los-angeles-county-weighs-$15-minimum-wage/869089/
Glad to see it go to $15.
But 2020 is too far away. By then the minimum wage should be closer to $20 per hour.
= new reply since forum marked as read
Workers in Los Angeles, the largest city on the West Coast and the second largest U.S. city overall, have secured a major victory in the fight to raise the minimum wage. On June 14, Democratic Mayor Eric Garcetti signed into law a wage increase to $15 an hour that will impact 800,000 workers.
Workers in SEIU ULTCW, the United Long Term Care Workers’ Union demanding the Los Angeles City Council vote to raise the minimum wage on Tuesday, May 19, 2015, in Los Angeles (AP Photo / Damian Dovarganes)
Workers in SEIU ULTCW, the United Long Term Care Workers’ Union demanding the Los Angeles City Council vote to raise the minimum wage on Tuesday, May 19, 2015, in Los Angeles (AP Photo / Damian Dovarganes)
The victory in Los Angeles is a watershed moment for working class people across the country. Los Angeles is not only the largest American city to win $15, but also a big city with one of the highest rates of poverty in the country. One study estimated that in Los Angeles County, which includes L.A., fully 27% of the population lives below the official poverty line. By the time the increase is fully implemented, it will directly improve the wages of an astonishing 39% of the city’s workers.
http://www.socialistalternative.org/2015/07/16/15-wins-los-angeles-st-louis-next/
