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Breaking: San Jose City Council To Vote on Whether to Accelerate Minimum Wage Hike


Today, the San Jose City Council will vote on whether to accelerate a minimum wage hike for hourly workers in the city.  While the state of California requires a flat minimum wage of $15/hour by 2022 across the state, supporters of this measure have long advocated that the wage hike should be accelerated, in part because of the high cost of living in many parts of the state.  In fact, labor unions and supporters of an accelerated timeframe for the minimum wage hike held a rally in front of city hall earlier in the day, before the Council Is to vote.

Prior to the vote, there have been several competing measures to accelerate the minimum wage rate in the city.  One proposal, which has the support of Mayor Sam Luccido and other city officials, would raise the hourly wage rate to $15/hour by July 1, 2019.  Another proposal, supported by several Council members, proposes to raise the minimum wage rate to $15/hour six months earlier, by January 1, 2019.  

Readers might be aware that several other cities in Santa Clara County, such as Palo Alto and Los Altos, among others, have approved a $15/hour wage by 2019 timeframe.  Mountain View and Sunnyvale have taken a more ambitious approach and have mandated a $15/hour wage by 2018 timeframe.  Advocates of an accelerated timeframe for the minimum wage hike argued that if San Jose failed to act, it would fall behind other cities in the county (and in theory, 'always' be several months behind other cities in the county).

I am not surprised that a bigger city such as San Jose likely will not approve a 2018 timeframe to raise minimum wage rates.  Critics of an accelerated timeframe have long pointed out that implementing a higher minimum wage rate before 2022 would hurt small businesses and hinder growth in the private sector.  Naturally, it is more difficult to phase in a minimum wage hike in a larger city such as San Jose, especially given the political pressure that exists and resistance among pro-business groups who have opposed the minimum wage hike.  With that being said, given the action of other cities in Santa Clara County which helped spur San Jose to consider a 2019 timeframe, I would still call this a win for hourly workers in the city.  Even if the City Council declines to approve an accelerated timeframe, this likely will not be the last time we hear about attempts to fastrack a $15/hour minimum wage rate in San Jose, ahead of schedule of the rest of California.  Stay tuned.  


For additional information:   http://www.mercurynews.com/2016/11/15/san-jose-city-council-to-mull-when-city-should-raise-minimum-wage/

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