Los Angeles County votes to gradually raise minimum wage to $15

Board members say they support an increase, though they haven’t offered a specific amount.

The ballot measure will appear alongside the 15 Now measure, which would raise the minimum wage to $15 starting January 2016.

The anticipated vote could put the greater Los Angeles area on track to a $15-an-hour regional wage – or could result in a patchwork system in which some of the 87 smaller independent cities in the county move to a higher wage and others hold out.

The higher wage would apply to county workers but also those laboring in county-controlled unincorporated areas. Johnson said he expects the supervisors to discuss the minimum wage promptly at 10 a.m.

UC Berkeley Spokeswoman Janet Gilmore said in an email statement last week the city of Berkeley’s minimum wage increase also excluded nonprofit organizations, like the university.

If eventually approved, the hourly wage would increase in steps in the county until it hits $15 in 2020.

That might help the Republicans in the general election – especially in a presidential year when more Democrats will be coming out to vote than usual – but would no doubt further inflame the conservative grassroots, which is already not a fan of Flanagan due to his “yes” vote on the SAFE Act.

Raise the Wage activists stacked the deck, transporting hundreds of workers to each hearing and encouraging them to create a hostile atmosphere for anyone who deigned to speak against raising the wage for fast-food workers.

There are about 390,000 workers employed in parts of the county falling outside the city of Los Angeles and 87 other incorporated municipalities, but Bellman said he lacked a figure for how many of them now earn less than $15 a hour.

But even if the wage hike goes into effect, those on both sides of the issue expect there to be a call next year for a minimum wage increases across the board.

But some small business leaders expressed strong opposition.

Business owners were booed and shouted at. It does not have a goal of reaching $15 per hour, which was proposed by a majority of the Minimum Wage Task Force.

Business owners say an increase in the minimum wage is a double-edged sword.

Supporters, including county employees and labor union officials, countered that a higher wage will keep people out of poverty. Boots has made extensive room outside of the studio and off the stage to address those issues, as well, and his opinions on the effective execution of a real change in the minimum-wage battle are the latest to be published.

Katherine Page, a rising fourth-year sociology student who works on campus, said she thinks the update in the policy will secure higher wages for students and make it easier to pay for school. Small business will have more customers and the area will improve, because if people like me and my co-workers get a few extra dollars, we’re going to spend the money right here in Tacoma. Wage theft typically occurs when employers pay their workers less than the legally-required minimum wage.