California Poised to Raise Minimum Wage to $15/Hour
California is poised to enact a law that would gradually raise its minimum wage to $15/hour by 2022, making it the first state to raise its minimum wage to that level..
State lawmakers, the administration of Gov. Jerry Brown (D), and union leaders on March 26 reached a tentative agreement to make the long sought-after wage hike a reality, the Los Angeles Times reported.
“It’s a matter of economic justice and it makes sense,” Brown said at a March 28 press conference.
The Democrat-controlled California legislature could consider enacting the bill within the next few weeks. The bill’s passage will depend on whether it garners support from moderate Democrats, Reuters reported on March 28.
“Raising the minimum wage will help more than 3.3 million workers and their families, including 200,000 seniors, who do an honest day’s work but struggle to put food on the table,” a March 28 press release from SEIU-United Healthcare Workers West said.
“It will ensure workers like classroom aides, home health care workers, school janitors, and other hardworking people are paid enough to live on.”
All domestic workers in California (a category that includes home health aides and personal care attendants) are eligible to earn the state minimum wage — unless they are the parent, spouse, or child of their consumer, according to a fact sheet (pdf) from the California Domestic Workers Coalition.
— by Matthew Ozga