Los Angeles City Council Catches Up to Seattle, Votes in a $15 Minimum Wage
This just in, from the New York Times‘s Jennifer Medina:
The nation’s second-largest city voted on Tuesday to increase its minimum wage to $15 an hour by 2020, in what is perhaps the most significant victory so far in the national push to raise the minimum wage.
This is a big deal. Over 40 percent of the city’s workers earn less than $15 an hour.
Congratulations, Los Angeles! And welcome to the $15 party. Now get ready for the mass conservative hysteria every time a chain pizza place closes. But don’t believe the hype: since we raised the minimum wage, things in Seattle are going very well indeed.
Still, it’s a shame that Medina ends the article with a quote from a trade group president who claims that “A lot of businesses aren’t going to make it” and “a lot of employees are going to lose their jobs.” That’s not a fact, it’s a prediction, and nothing we’ve seen would indicate that it’s the truth. News tip for journalists: you don’t have to quote both sides if one of the sides is just spouting baseless fear-mongering.
Quibbles in coverage aside, this is a huge victory and it’s time to celebrate.
