SF Minimum Wage Measure raises the bar nationally by getting ALL workers to $15 per hour in 2018 and CPI indexing starting in 2019
Advocates Vow to Win $15 and Other Measures Fighting Inequality in November
(SAN FRANCISCO) - As cities and states around the country join the fight to raise the minimum wage, San Francisco’s Campaign for a Fair Economy (CFE), made up of a broad grouping of Labor and Community organizations, minimum wage workers most affected will speak and rally Saturday June 14, 10am at 16th Street BART to celebrate achieving a consensus minimum wage ballot measure that will set the highest standard nationally – with ALL workers getting to $15 an hour in 2018.
After more than a year of advocacy and grass roots organizing, the CFE was able to win a compromise measure –reached among the CFE, Mayor Ed Lee, and Supervisor Jane Kim and supported by all members of the Board of Supervisors, non-profit, and business leaders – representing one of the strongest proposals expected to be enacted in any city nationally, and providing momentum to upcoming campaigns to raise wages around the Bay Area and improve minimum wage enforcement standards.
“This vitally important measure will lift up over 100,000 of the lowest paid workers in San Francisco and raise the bar nationally for minimum wage policies,” stated Shaw San Liu of the Chinese Progressive Association. Liu continued, “San Francisco’s economic success should be measured by how it addresses the needs of the workers who keep our city running. This victory will be a springboard to lead future efforts to lift up low wage workers who struggle daily to make ends meet in the City including: housing justice, good jobs, holding corporations accountable, and healthcare as a human right.”
“In the last decade, cities and states across the country have modeled minimum wage, living wage, paid sick days and even healthcare laws after the groundbreaking policies that were won by CFE organizations in San Francisco,” stated Josue Arguelles of Young Workers United. “Yet, today San Francisco workers are still falling behind when it comes to affording housing and basic living expenses. Too many of us can no longer afford to live here while working full time or even multiple jobs.”
“With San Francisco leading the country in wealth inequality – now is the time to take action to help lift workers out of poverty,” stated Vivian Richardson of the Alliance of Californians for Community Empowerment. “We made sure workers were central in decision make to develop our minimum wage measure introduced this week which will raise the bar nationally by getting ALL workers to $15 per hour faster than any other measure, and with annual increases based on inflation starting in 2019 – so workers who need it the most, minimum wage workers, will never go without a raise.”
Gordon Mar of Jobs with Justice added, “over the next four years, this measure will put over a billion dollars of extra income into the pockets of low-wage workers and their families, and most this will be spent at local businesses providing a huge boost to our economy. The $15 minimum wage measure is an important part of a larger agenda to close the economic divide and ensure that working families can continue to live and thrive in our diverse city.”
The Campaign for a Fair Economy is a coalition of community and labor organizations including SF Progressive Workers Alliance, San Francisco Labor Council, Jobs with Justice, SF Rising, ACCE, California Nurses Association, Chinese Progressive Association, SEIU Local 1021, Unite Here Local 2, Young Workers United and other supporting organizations.
