San Francisco's Minimum Wage Increases To $10.55 Per Hour
SAN FRANCISCO (KCBS) – Many of San Francisco's low-income workers are getting some good news as they return to work for the first time in 2013 – the city, which has the highest minimum wage in the nation, has seen it go up to $10.55 an hour.
The wage floor in 2012 was $10.24 an hour. Unite Here Local 2 President Mike Casey said the increase is the result of a 2003 voter-approved ordinance that ties San Francisco's minimum wage to the regional inflation rage.
Opinions Mixed On San Francisco's Minimum Wage Increase
"Any day that the lowest paid workers in a community get a raise is a great day," he said.
Casey said the extra income will go directly into the local economy.
"That money gets spent," he said. "It doesn't get stowed away into savings accounts or into buying stocks or doing what rich people do with their windfalls."
However, critics of San Francisco's minimum wage ordinance call it a job killer, especially when combined with mandatory sick leave and health care requirements.
They argue that the law especially impacts young workers, who many see as the main beneficiaries of a wage increase.
The federal minimum wage is $7.25 an hour and has not seen an increase since July 2009.
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