The California Fight For $15 Movement Is Kicking Ass And Taking Names

In California, an initiative to hike California’s minimum wage to $18 an hour (phased-in by 2026) funded by tech entrepreneur Joe Sandberg appears to be a lock for the 2022 November ballot. California House races that Democrats must win could hinge on the state’s minimum wage.

By Martin Bennett, Beyond Chron

California is the epicenter for a nationwide grassroots movement to raise the wage floor for American workers. On January 1st, the state set $15 an hour as the floor for large employers and $14 an hour for small ones (rising to $15 for all in 2023). Meanwhile, thirty-nine California cities and counties have established higher rates, with Emeryville the highest at $17.13 an hour and most well above $15.

The Fight for Fifteen movement has reshaped public opinion, pushing local and state officials around the country to approve a $15 per hour minimum wage. Eleven states and fifty-four cities and counties have $15 minimum wage floors, according to the National Employment Law Project (NELP), and four in ten workers live in states on the pathway to a $15 minimum wage.

At the national level, the Raise the Wage Act, approved by the House, would boost the federal minimum from $7.25 an hour to $15 phased-in by 2025; but it is blocked in the Senate. In the 2022 midterm elections, this impasse could well impact the outcomes of competitive Senate and House races in battleground states.

In California, an initiative to hike California’s minimum wage to $18 an hour (phased-in by 2026) funded by tech entrepreneur Joe Sandberg appears to be a lock for the 2022 November ballot. California House races that Democrats must win could hinge on the state’s minimum wage.