County supervisors delay $30 minimum wage measure

Alameda County officials voted to delay a November ballot measure that would gradually raise the minimum wage to $30 an hour in unincorporated areas.

The Living Wage for All initiative, created by Oakland-based grassroots organization One Fair Wage and its partners, qualified for the November ballot after supporters submitted "more than 100,000 signatures across Alameda County," the group announced July 24. 

The measure proposed requiring corporations in unincorporated parts of Alameda County, with more than 100 employees and annual revenue exceeding $1 billion, to increase their minimum wage to $30 an hour by 2030. Mid-sized employers would have until 2035 to reach that level, while the smallest employers would have until 2037.

On Aug. 4, Alameda County supervisors David Haubert, Nate Miley and Lena Tam asked for a study to assess the measure's fiscal impact. They set a 30-day deadline, effectively disqualifying it from this year’s ballot.

Supervisors Elisa Marquez and Nikki Fortunato Bas voted to put the measure on the ballot.

Opponents of the initiative raised concerns about whether small businesses would be able to afford to keep workers with the increase, while supporters said the increase would match Alameda County's escalating cost of living.

"[This] procedural vote will not prevent a living wage for all from reaching the ballot in Alameda County. It simply means voters will pass these critical reforms in the next election," the leadership group for the Living Wage for All coalition said in a statement Aug. 5. "What workers needed from these supervisors was courage to stand up to big business and, on that, three supervisors failed dramatically."

California's current statewide minimum wage is $16.90 an hour, although several East Bay cities have adopted higher local minimum wages, including El Cerrito ($18.82), Berkeley ($19.61/hour) and Emeryville ($20.34).

Supporters say the wage increase could be a boon for small Alameda County cities and would establish a wage floor significantly higher than current requirements.

U.S. Rep. Lateefah Simon, whose district includes Albany, said the proposal would better align local wages with the high cost of living in Alameda County.

"For too long, our economy has relied on underpaying the very workers who keep this country running. That harm has fallen hardest on women, workers with disabilities, tipped workers, Black and brown workers, and working families already struggling to afford basic necessities," she said in a statement supporting the campaign.

Simon also is a co-sponsor of the federal Living Wage for All Act, which would gradually raise the federal minimum wage to $25 an hour. She joined Oakland-based advocates at the federal Living Wage For All Act introduction in April.

Albany Scanner sought comment from local business groups but had not heard back as of publication time.

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