San Francisco, Oakland Voters Approve Minimum Wage Increase; SF Mayor Ed Lee Calls It 'A Good Bump'
SAN FRANCISCO (KCBS) — San Francisco already has the highest minimum wage in the country but voters on Tuesday pushed it even higher. Now, low-wage earners in both San Francisco and Oakland will be getting raises.
With 76 percent of the "yes" vote, San Francisco's Proposition J sailed into victory, raising the current $10.74 an hour to $12.25 next May, $13 in July of 2015 and then a dollar each year until it hits $15 in 2018.
San Francisco, Oakland Voters Approve Minimum Wage Increase; SF Mayor Ed Lee Calls It 'A Good Bump'
San Francisco Mayor Ed Lee had pushed hard for Prop J which will raise a minimum wage paycheck of nearly $200 a week to $31,000 a year for a full-time worker.
"It's a little more personal because I've worked those jobs; I know what people feel," Lee said. "I've had a lot of chances to talk to a lot of folks that are working here in San Francisco and they all said they just need a little help to just make it a little easier for us and that minimum wage is a good bump."
This is a faster rate than in Seattle which also recently raised its minimum to $15.
Meanwhile in Oakland, Measure FF passed with 81 percent of the vote raising that city's minimum wage from $9 to $12.25 an hour starting in March. It also guarantees five sick days a year for workers.
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