SUBSCRIBE TO OUR FREE NEWSLETTER
Daily news & progressive opinion—funded by the people, not the corporations—delivered straight to your inbox.
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
LA Takes the Lead With Highest Minimum Wage Proposal
As pressure mounts nationwide to raise minimum wage, LA could see historic victory
Jan 15, 2014
Los Angeles could soon be home to the highest minimum wage in the nation.
An effort by local organizers that has now been taken up by several members of the city council is pushing for a $15.37 hourly wage for hotel workers in the city.
Organizers with the Los Angeles Alliance for a New Economy have led the campaign Raise LA, which has fought for a living wage for hotel workers, for over a year. With the help of other groups in the area, the movement gained support from local communities and backing from more than 700 businesses across the city, according to the Huffington Post.
Now, three city council members, Mike Bonin, Nury Martinez and Curren Price, are drafting the proposal, which has "a decent chance of passing, given that 14 of the 15 city council members are Democrats and generally friendly toward labor," The Huffington Post reports.
And, if they succeed, there could likely be a push to extend that raise to workers throughout Los Angeles.
"I'd like to see it through the city of LA," Councilman Bonin told The Huffington Post. "We know it will improve lives. We know it will bring folks into the middle class. We know it will bring more money into the local economy."
"We would absolutely like to extend this to other industries," Maria Elena Durazo, chief of the county Federation of Labor, told the LA Times. The Federation of Labor also launched a campaign this week to raise city-wide minimum wages to $15, unveiling billboards across the city styled after green "city limits" signs, which read: "Los Angeles, City Limited, Poverty Wage Pop. 810,864."
Currently in Los Angeles, 46 percent of working people earn what the Los Angeles County Federation of Labor considers poverty wages--less than $15 an hour, according to a new study by the group.
"This is an economic apartheid," said Durazo. "LA won't prosper and attract business if 46 percent of working people aren't prospering."
The movement comes on the heels of a national fight for living wages, including the "Fight for Fifteen" movement led by fast-food workers across the country and an increase in strikes and protests for better working conditions by workers at big box retail stores such as Walmart.
Following a recent victory in SeaTac, Washington, where airport workers won a fight for a $15 minimum wage in November, a group by the name of '15Now Campaign' is bringing that fight to the national level.
Starting in Seattle, the group plans to pass a city-wide wage increase, with the extended goal of pressuring municipalities across the nation to do the same.
"A $15 minimum wage in Seattle will set an example that working people and unions across the country would likely be inspired to follow," the campaign said in their official announcement.
_______________________
An Urgent Message From Our Co-Founder
Dear Common Dreams reader, It’s been nearly 30 years since I co-founded Common Dreams with my late wife, Lina Newhouser. We had the radical notion that journalism should serve the public good, not corporate profits. It was clear to us from the outset what it would take to build such a project. No paid advertisements. No corporate sponsors. No millionaire publisher telling us what to think or do. Many people said we wouldn't last a year, but we proved those doubters wrong. Together with a tremendous team of journalists and dedicated staff, we built an independent media outlet free from the constraints of profits and corporate control. Our mission has always been simple: To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. Building Common Dreams was not easy. Our survival was never guaranteed. When you take on the most powerful forces—Wall Street greed, fossil fuel industry destruction, Big Tech lobbyists, and uber-rich oligarchs who have spent billions upon billions rigging the economy and democracy in their favor—the only bulwark you have is supporters who believe in your work. But here’s the urgent message from me today. It's never been this bad out there. And it's never been this hard to keep us going. At the very moment Common Dreams is most needed, the threats we face are intensifying. We need your support now more than ever. We don't accept corporate advertising and never will. We don't have a paywall because we don't think people should be blocked from critical news based on their ability to pay. Everything we do is funded by the donations of readers like you. When everyone does the little they can afford, we are strong. But if that support retreats or dries up, so do we. Will you donate now to make sure Common Dreams not only survives but thrives? —Craig Brown, Co-founder |
Our work is licensed under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0). Feel free to republish and share widely.
Jacob Chamberlain
Jacob Chamberlain is a former staff writer for Common Dreams. He is the author of Migrant Justice in the Age of Removal. His website is www.jacobpchamberlain.com.
Los Angeles could soon be home to the highest minimum wage in the nation.
An effort by local organizers that has now been taken up by several members of the city council is pushing for a $15.37 hourly wage for hotel workers in the city.
Organizers with the Los Angeles Alliance for a New Economy have led the campaign Raise LA, which has fought for a living wage for hotel workers, for over a year. With the help of other groups in the area, the movement gained support from local communities and backing from more than 700 businesses across the city, according to the Huffington Post.
Now, three city council members, Mike Bonin, Nury Martinez and Curren Price, are drafting the proposal, which has "a decent chance of passing, given that 14 of the 15 city council members are Democrats and generally friendly toward labor," The Huffington Post reports.
And, if they succeed, there could likely be a push to extend that raise to workers throughout Los Angeles.
"I'd like to see it through the city of LA," Councilman Bonin told The Huffington Post. "We know it will improve lives. We know it will bring folks into the middle class. We know it will bring more money into the local economy."
"We would absolutely like to extend this to other industries," Maria Elena Durazo, chief of the county Federation of Labor, told the LA Times. The Federation of Labor also launched a campaign this week to raise city-wide minimum wages to $15, unveiling billboards across the city styled after green "city limits" signs, which read: "Los Angeles, City Limited, Poverty Wage Pop. 810,864."
Currently in Los Angeles, 46 percent of working people earn what the Los Angeles County Federation of Labor considers poverty wages--less than $15 an hour, according to a new study by the group.
"This is an economic apartheid," said Durazo. "LA won't prosper and attract business if 46 percent of working people aren't prospering."
The movement comes on the heels of a national fight for living wages, including the "Fight for Fifteen" movement led by fast-food workers across the country and an increase in strikes and protests for better working conditions by workers at big box retail stores such as Walmart.
Following a recent victory in SeaTac, Washington, where airport workers won a fight for a $15 minimum wage in November, a group by the name of '15Now Campaign' is bringing that fight to the national level.
Starting in Seattle, the group plans to pass a city-wide wage increase, with the extended goal of pressuring municipalities across the nation to do the same.
"A $15 minimum wage in Seattle will set an example that working people and unions across the country would likely be inspired to follow," the campaign said in their official announcement.
_______________________
Jacob Chamberlain
Jacob Chamberlain is a former staff writer for Common Dreams. He is the author of Migrant Justice in the Age of Removal. His website is www.jacobpchamberlain.com.
Los Angeles could soon be home to the highest minimum wage in the nation.
An effort by local organizers that has now been taken up by several members of the city council is pushing for a $15.37 hourly wage for hotel workers in the city.
Organizers with the Los Angeles Alliance for a New Economy have led the campaign Raise LA, which has fought for a living wage for hotel workers, for over a year. With the help of other groups in the area, the movement gained support from local communities and backing from more than 700 businesses across the city, according to the Huffington Post.
Now, three city council members, Mike Bonin, Nury Martinez and Curren Price, are drafting the proposal, which has "a decent chance of passing, given that 14 of the 15 city council members are Democrats and generally friendly toward labor," The Huffington Post reports.
And, if they succeed, there could likely be a push to extend that raise to workers throughout Los Angeles.
"I'd like to see it through the city of LA," Councilman Bonin told The Huffington Post. "We know it will improve lives. We know it will bring folks into the middle class. We know it will bring more money into the local economy."
"We would absolutely like to extend this to other industries," Maria Elena Durazo, chief of the county Federation of Labor, told the LA Times. The Federation of Labor also launched a campaign this week to raise city-wide minimum wages to $15, unveiling billboards across the city styled after green "city limits" signs, which read: "Los Angeles, City Limited, Poverty Wage Pop. 810,864."
Currently in Los Angeles, 46 percent of working people earn what the Los Angeles County Federation of Labor considers poverty wages--less than $15 an hour, according to a new study by the group.
"This is an economic apartheid," said Durazo. "LA won't prosper and attract business if 46 percent of working people aren't prospering."
The movement comes on the heels of a national fight for living wages, including the "Fight for Fifteen" movement led by fast-food workers across the country and an increase in strikes and protests for better working conditions by workers at big box retail stores such as Walmart.
Following a recent victory in SeaTac, Washington, where airport workers won a fight for a $15 minimum wage in November, a group by the name of '15Now Campaign' is bringing that fight to the national level.
Starting in Seattle, the group plans to pass a city-wide wage increase, with the extended goal of pressuring municipalities across the nation to do the same.
"A $15 minimum wage in Seattle will set an example that working people and unions across the country would likely be inspired to follow," the campaign said in their official announcement.
_______________________
We've had enough. The 1% own and operate the corporate media. They are doing everything they can to defend the status quo, squash dissent and protect the wealthy and the powerful. The Common Dreams media model is different. We cover the news that matters to the 99%. Our mission? To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. How? Nonprofit. Independent. Reader-supported. Free to read. Free to republish. Free to share. With no advertising. No paywalls. No selling of your data. Thousands of small donations fund our newsroom and allow us to continue publishing. Can you chip in? We can't do it without you. Thank you.
To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good.
News & Opinion
Trending
Common Dreams, Inc. Founded 1997. Registered 501(c3) Non-Profit
Privacy Policy