Six L.A. council members seek to boost minimum wage to $15.25 an hour
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UC Berkeley economist Michael Reich, who has advised Garcetti, looked at the mayor's $13.25 wage proposal and concluded it is "the right amount," Millman said.
Reich said Tuesday that mandating a specific wage so many years into the future poses "a couple of risks" because it is unclear how much the economy will continue to expand or how high or low inflation will be. "There's risks to attaching a number today to something that's so far away from now," Reich said.
Reich said his study of Garcetti's proposal, prepared at the mayor's request, examined how a proposed minimum wage of $13.25 compares to the current $20.81 median full-time hourly wage in Los Angeles. Bumping wages to $13.25, he found, would be a more significant increase for Angelenos than a $15 wage in San Francisco, for example, because workers there earn more than in Los Angeles.
Reich said nobody knows at what minimum wage there would be job loss. If the city moves to a $15.25 minimum wage, "it takes you into an area where other cities have not yet gone," he said.
For months, labor leaders and community groups have been pressing lawmakers to push the minimum wage to $15. On Tuesday morning, representatives of unions and nonprofits stood on the steps of City Hall with workers who described the difference that higher pay would make in their lives.
"No one should have to choose whether they have to pay rent or pay for food," said Alberto Retana, executive vice president of Community Coalition of South Los Angeles.
After the latest minimum wage proposal was unveiled, county labor federation head Maria Elena Durazo praised the mayor and council members "for taking a major step forward in the fight to end poverty in our communities."
Several business leaders have voiced fears that a higher citywide minimum wage will drive business out of the city, hitting low-skilled workers especially hard.
Industry groups are already dismayed with the council's decision last week to boost the minimum wage at large hotels to $15.37. Carol Schatz, the head of the Central City Assn., a downtown business group, said the way in which that vote was handled left her with serious doubts about whether the latest proposal — and the issue of job losses — will be "thoughtfully weighed by the council."
