Raise the rage: Supporters disappointed after failure to get $15 an hour
Task force’s ‘total compensation model’ could challenge California’s minimum-wage law
Once the yelling subsided and the police lockdown was lifted, all that was left inside Sacramento City Council chambers was disappointment.
Nine months after Mayor Kevin Johnson pledged to lead the way on income inequality during his State of the City speech, his hand-picked task force presented its opening offer: a modest increase to the city’s minimum wage, culminating at $12.50 an hour by the year 2020, but only for workers who don’t get loop-holed out of the equation under new guidelines.
The September 2 recommendation fell short of what’s been achieved in 10 other California cities—including smaller ones like Oakland and Richmond—and sets Sacramento on a path that could lead to the state Supreme Court.
Johnson, flanked at a podium by task force members, called the deal a “win-win” for his city. Even for a mayor who favors sports metaphors, it was a premature one to choose.
When the task force convened later, it greeted an angry crowd that had been screened at the doors of City Hall for weapons. Labor interests stormed out in a staged protest. At least one minimum wage worker, a mother with two jobs, cried and screamed. Police locked down the building.
In short, the reviews were negative.
“They were very difficult negotiations,” said Joseph Devlin, chief of staff for Councilman Jay Schenirer, who co-chaired the task force. “Not anyone got all of what they wanted.”
Perhaps, but the side that most signified its dissatisfaction was the one calling for a higher wage for the Sacramento News & Review - Raise the rage: Supporters disappointed after failure to get $15 an hour - News - Local Stories - September 10, 2015:
Minimum effort in wage debate
The mayor’s hand-picked task force announced its much-anticipated minimum-wage plan last week. The take home from last Wednesday’s press conference was that “nobody got everything they wanted.” But the reality was that low-income workers were the losers.
And now, the city of Sacramento gets to play guinea pig, at the behest of restaurant and chamber-of-commerce interests.
How we got here: Activists and union workers banged the $15-an-hour drum, and loudly, for about a year. Nationally, Democrats got on board for some kind of wage bump, and Mayor Kevin Johnson followed suit, wrapping his arms around the issue. In May, he launched a task force, whose members included all sorts of stakeholders, to investigate the impacts and benefits. The group dropped its proposal last week: incremental pay bumps through 2020, the end rate being $12.50—a wage lower than what was passed in nearby Bay Area burg Richmond.
The proposal is a nice win for business owners of all stripes. But the bigger issue pertains to a “total compensation” clause in the city’s proposed ordinance.
Total compensation basically allows business owners to not bump the minimum wage for workers who receive other financial benefits, such as tips and health care. That means Joe Employee earning $10 an hour won’t get a pay bump to $12.50 if he gets tips or other benefits from his employer that amount to more than $15 an hour.
Unions call this move illegal. City leaders in Los Angeles and elsewhere have shot similar moves down. Yet Sacramento appears poised to be the legal lab rat when it comes to this carve out, pushed hard by the California Restaurant Association.
That’s unfortunate: Why must Sacramento trailblaze on this?
It’s also worth noting that the city’s proposed minimum wage could possibly be outdone by a new state minimum in five years. It’s not a likelihood, but it’s possible.
It’s nice to see any kind of pay bump for workers. But this latest proposal feels like minimum effort.