Putting LA’s new minimum wage in context
The nearly unanimous vote was 14 to 1 Tuesday in the LA City Council in favor of raising the minimum wage. Mike Bonin, who represents most of the Westside, said raising the…
By Caitlin Shamberg • • 1 min readLos Angeles Daily News reporter, Dakota Smith explained that this makes Los Angeles becomes the largest city in the country to raise its wage this way.
The wage will be increased beginning in July of 2016 and then rise incrementally until 2020 and then, beginning July 1, 2022 after the $15 minimum is set, the minimum wage will be tied to inflation.
Organized labor groups played a key role in getting this wage to its new minimum. Los Angeles, New York and Chicago all seeing pressure from activists and unions, explained Bloomberg BusinessWeek reporter Josh Eidelson.
And when it comes to business: “This is something that’s not making the business lobby happy,” said Eidelson. “We’ve seen the business lobby push back in a lot of ways.”
Advocates around the country are looking beyond the wage level to other protections and benefits for workers.
Keep in mind, the federal minimum wage is $7.25 an hour. So for many workers, changes on a local level make a big difference.