The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors is expected to take a preliminary step Tuesday that could lead to the higher wages. We are hoping that the wage board will step up for workers and provide a much-needed wage increase.
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Cuomo convened the wage board earlier this year after lawmakers could not agree on a broader wage increase.
Mayor Eric Garcetti laid out the aims of raising the wage in the county, the same as he fought for in the City of Los Angeles.
The higher wage would apply to county workers but also those laboring in county-controlled unincorporated areas. Any broad increase in wages have to be approved by the legislature.
Paolo Cannella, owner of Original Italian Pizza in Watertown, agreed, noting that if employee wages go up to $15 per hour, food prices will rise significantly to compensate.
More than 100 speakers were listed to voice their opinions on the agenda items proposing a minimum wage increase. There are still some questions as to just how a restaurant would be classified as “fast food”. New York spends $6,800 in public assistance per fast-food worker annually, or $700 million a year, more than any other state, Cuomo has said.
Democrats in Congress have put forward proposals in the House and the Senate to raise the federally mandated minimum wage to $12 an hour by 2020. “We’ve heard a lot of good things so far”. However, many businesses reject the wage hike saying the high cost of labor will likely be pushed onto their customers or they’ll have to cut jobs. The initiative will explore ways the county can help small business owners in the form of tax credits or breaks, reductions in permit and license fees, streamlining permitting and improving sidewalks, lighting and parking areas. At the same time, it is also clear to me that increasing the minimum wage poses a real and significant challenge to many businesses, especially the small mom-and-pop businesses that make up the majority of these enterprises.
The county supervisors directed lawyers to draft a similar pay scale that would top out in 2020, although smaller businesses would have an extra year to reach that mark.
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Because the city of Berkeley’s planned minimum wage increase to $11 an hour in October will include nonprofit organizations, UC Berkeley will increase its minimum wage as well, in accordance with the UC policy update, Gilmore said. As a mother, the minimum wage was not paying me enough to cover rent, food, and my family’s other expenses. Boots has made extensive room outside of the studio and off the stage to address those issues, as well, and his opinions on the effective execution of a real change in the minimum-wage battle are the latest to be published. In order to bring forth true change, a direct conversation about what will happen if striking workers are not given what they deserve, Riley writes that we need to realize that “our power lies not in the streets but at the pivot point of capitalism: the workplace”.
