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Come New Year’s Day, he’ll have a few more coins in his pocket as San Francisco makes history by becoming the first city in the nation to scale a $10 minimum wage. The city’s hourly wage for its lowest-paid workers will hit $10.24, more than $2 above the California minimum wage and nearly $3 more than the working wage set by the federal government.
It won’t put much more in Frias’ wallet. But it gives him a sense of moving on up.
“It’s a psychological boost,” said Frias, who is a 34-year-old usher at a movie theater and a security guard for a crowd control firm. “It means that I’ll have more money in my wallet to pay my bills and money to spend in the city to help the economy.”
San Franciscans passed a proposition in 2003 that requires the city to increase the minimum wage each year, using a formula tied to inflation and the cost of living.
“It was really a forward way of approaching it,” said Gordon Mar, coordinator for Jobs With Justice in San Francisco, part of the coalition that worked on the minimum wage initiative in 2003.
The first year the increase went into effect, minimum wage in San Francisco jumped from $6.75 an hour to $8.50, a significant increase for the city’s 50,000 lowest paid workers. The increase put about $100 million into worker’s wallets.
It was news around the country this week that San Francisco’s minimum wage would break the $10 an hour barrier.
Mar and others cheer the news, but also note that $10.24 still far from a living wage for workers — especially workers with families — in a city like San Francisco, with its high cost of living.
However, the increase is definitely a help for the thousands of low wage workers trying to get by in difficult economic times, Mar added.
He said worker advocates in other California cities have expressed interest in a similar local minimum wage law, but none have been able to mount a successful campaign against business interests, including restaurant associations.
San Francisco, pushed by advocates including Jobs with Justice, has led the nation in progressive labor standards. San Francisco was the first city in the nation to require employers to provide paid sick days to workers. San Francisco also has a local universal health care law for all city residents.
“It was pretty ground-breaking in 2008,” Mar said of the health care law. “It is open to any resident of San Francisco.”
Contributions for the health care program come from employers.
“It has provided a decent level of health care access for low wage workers who didn’t previously have health insurance,” said Mar.
Jaron Browne, communications director for People Organized to Win Employment Rights (POWER), also in San Francisco, said at $10.24 an hour, “We are finally starting to see the impact, where the floor is actually being raised for workers.”
It won’t put much more in Frias’ wallet. But it gives him a sense of moving on up.
“It’s a psychological boost,” said Frias, who is a 34-year-old usher at a movie theater and a security guard for a crowd control firm. “It means that I’ll have more money in my wallet to pay my bills and money to spend in the city to help the economy.”
San Franciscans passed a proposition in 2003 that requires the city to increase the minimum wage each year, using a formula tied to inflation and the cost of living.
“It was really a forward way of approaching it,” said Gordon Mar, coordinator for Jobs With Justice in San Francisco, part of the coalition that worked on the minimum wage initiative in 2003.
The first year the increase went into effect, minimum wage in San Francisco jumped from $6.75 an hour to $8.50, a significant increase for the city’s 50,000 lowest paid workers. The increase put about $100 million into worker’s wallets.
It was news around the country this week that San Francisco’s minimum wage would break the $10 an hour barrier.
Mar and others cheer the news, but also note that $10.24 still far from a living wage for workers — especially workers with families — in a city like San Francisco, with its high cost of living.
However, the increase is definitely a help for the thousands of low wage workers trying to get by in difficult economic times, Mar added.
He said worker advocates in other California cities have expressed interest in a similar local minimum wage law, but none have been able to mount a successful campaign against business interests, including restaurant associations.
San Francisco, pushed by advocates including Jobs with Justice, has led the nation in progressive labor standards. San Francisco was the first city in the nation to require employers to provide paid sick days to workers. San Francisco also has a local universal health care law for all city residents.
“It was pretty ground-breaking in 2008,” Mar said of the health care law. “It is open to any resident of San Francisco.”
Contributions for the health care program come from employers.
“It has provided a decent level of health care access for low wage workers who didn’t previously have health insurance,” said Mar.
Jaron Browne, communications director for People Organized to Win Employment Rights (POWER), also in San Francisco, said at $10.24 an hour, “We are finally starting to see the impact, where the floor is actually being raised for workers.”
Hmph , let us take joy in knowing your making roughly $6 less then someone that has had at last 4 years college , and is the average wage overall for the united states. Your a cashier , bus boy , cart wrangler , burger flipper , or anything else you have chosen to do.
So someone that has worked at there job for 15-20 or more years serving there own purpose , you make a little less. But hold on , each year you will make more , until you overtake the USA average wage for trained schooled professionals. Source on that one
Good for you , you have accomplished one leg of extreme inflation. Smile for your children , they owe you before they are conceived. You should be proud. I'm sure your children will look back and thank you.
