San Jose has established a new minimum wage for employees within the city limits. The minimum pay rate will increase to $10, from its current $8, next year.
The idea, which came out of a group of San Jose State students, found the backing of local organized labor that pointed at the raise as a way to improve the standard of living. But few cities in the country actually set their own minimum wages. San Francisco is one of them.
Opponents outspent proponents and even had Mayor Chuck Reed sign the ballot argument against the increase. They worried that the increase in wages would lead to fewer jobs, because employers wouldn’t be able to afford larger work forces.
The measure also called for annual cost of living increases to the minimum.
Read the full story at the San Jose Mercury News.