The Minimum Wage: A New Deal for Los Angeles Workers?
Vivian Rothstein: Many major American cities are stepping into that pro-active, Roosevelt role; new minimum wage laws have been passed, proposed or are being discussed in communities across the nation.
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The Minimum Wage: A New Deal for Los Angeles Workers?
Fast forward to the present. We now have a largely paralyzed federal government, consumed in debate over whether or not government action is a curse or a blessing, and unable or unwilling to address the widening income gap. In response, many major American cities are stepping into that pro-active, Roosevelt role; new minimum wage laws have been passed, proposed or are being discussed in communities across the nation.
Fifty people gathered recently at the L.A County Federation of Labor to reflect on Mayor Eric Garcetti’s new minimum wage proposal for workers in Los Angeles. Representing universities, community organizations, labor unions and religious organizations, the attendees were interested in “research-based evidence” to assess the extent of income inequality in Los Angeles, its impact on the local economy and strategies to lift the lowest paying industries in the city. These are industries that have cut costs (including wages) rather than increase productivity to keep pace with their competitors. Chris Tilly of the UCLA Institute for Research, Labor and Employment suggested that some of these industries could benefit from technological innovations and may find the raised minimum wage an incentive to upgrade their efficiency.
And if, as Jitahidi suggested, the legislation also includes an enforcement component to ensure that workers actually receive the wages they’re due, it could transform day-to-day life in Los Angeles for tens of thousands of people.
In his opening presentation, Dan Flaming, president of the nonprofit Economic Roundtable research group, stressed that Los Angeles has the nation’s fourth highest cost of living after New York City, San Francisco and San Jose. Yet currently the L.A. County and state labor forces are better paid than workers in the City of L.A. In our region “workers are interdependent across communities,” Flaming explained, most often living in communities other than those in which they work. Raising wages in Los Angeles is critical, but that will not be adequate to address hubs of low wage jobs in areas like Burbank, Long Beach and elsewhere in L.A. County.
Vivian Rothstein
Capital & Main
Capital & Main
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