How did this slip past me. Oakland will see a minimum wage increase today (3/2/15).
Right now it’s $9/hour, but not for long. Thanks to voter-approved Measure, it will rise to $12.25/hour.
Surprisingly as the city’s minimum wage goes up, so will food prices. Most restaurants have said they’ll have to raise prices and cut worker hours. That’s so random to me.
Advocates of the higher wage said more than one-quarter of all workers in Oakland, or 48,000 people, will be paid more and about 56,700 will now get paid sick days.
Research by the University of California at Berkeley shows that the impacts will be more significant among workers of color, including black, Hispanic and Asian workers. That group represents 58 to 66 percent of workers in Oakland and 75 to 83 percent of those expected to get the bigger paycheck.
Forty-one to 45 percent of impacted workers are Hispanic, according to the research.
Congrats to them. Hopefully more states will follow.
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