seiu 721 wins lA minimum wage hike

After years of hard work, Los Angeles workers finally got the raise they deserved and I’m proud that our union played a lead role in delivering it.

Thanks in large part to the efforts of SEIU 721 members and staff and a broad coalition of community groups, the Los Angeles City Council voted 14-1 on June 10th to raise the City’s minimum wage in phases from the current $9 an hour to $15 an hour by the year 2020.

This is a game-changing victory for labor and community groups in the region. Experts are saying the Los Angeles law will have enormous impact because, by some estimates, nearly 50 percent of the city’s workforce earns less than $15 an hour. For these workers this is a watershed victory — one that will allow many to keep their homes, feed their families and help their children build better lives.

It’s also a game-changing victory for L.A.’s public workers, the vast majority of whom earn higher than $15 per hour. Here’s why: For years, anti-government conservatives have funded efforts to attack the pay, health benefits and pensions of public workers.

They’ve tried to stoke jealousy among non-union private sector workers in a bid to cut public workers’ pay and benefits and contract out their work to forprofit companies with the ultimate goal of eliminating public employee unions entirely.

But by raising standards for all workers, we protect our work. Most schemes to contract out our work rely on replacing us with workers paid poverty wages without key health benefits, pensions and workplace protections. By setting a floor for wages, we make it much tougher for these groups to sneak through contracting out plans by promising elected officials the illusion of huge cost savings based on exploiting service workers.

For many in America, the Fight for $15 is far from over. But right now in L.A., we’re celebrating a sweet victory.

Bob Schoonover, President