PASADENA – On the heels of the City of Long Beach recently putting the city on the path to raising the wage $15/hr. in December, the City of Pasadena last night voted 7-0 to also adopt a minimum wage policy that will lead to $15/hr. by 2020.
The win puts a capstone on a year’s worth of grassroots organizing by ‘Pasadenans for a Livable Wage,’ a coalition that includes SEIU 721 and our Fight for 15 LA, low-wage workers and fellow unions, religious leaders, and other community partners working to push the city to $15.
The City of Roses’ entrance into the league of $15/hr. minimum wage cities leaves no doubt on the viability of cities of all sizes to directly improve the lives of underpaid workers and families living in poverty by raising the wage. A victory all around, the wage hike will generate about $230 million a year in additional consumer spending in Pasadena. The neighboring City of Glendale is also considering a similar wage hike.
Over the last 3 years, SEIU Local 721 has anchored the Fight for 15 LA to increase the minimum wage throughout the Greater L.A. Region, and this campaign is yielding great results. In 2015 alone, the City of Los Angeles and the County of Los Angeles both committed to raising the wage to $15/hr., and the latest SEIU 721 contracts with these jurisdictions will bring members to $15 even faster.
Count on this latest endorsement of $15 to go a long way at the ballot box next November when California voters decide on the SEIU backed proposition to increase the wage statewide. Once again it’s been proven that when we raise the wage floor throughout Greater L.A., we all win!