Emeryville Passes Minimum Wage Law in Line with Oakland and San Francisco

By Doug Oakley
Staff Writer
EMERYVILLE -- The City Council raised the minimum wage to $14.44 an hour for large businesses and $12.25 an hour for smaller ones starting July 1 with a unanimous vote Tuesday night. 

The $12.25-an-hour rate for small businesses with fewer than 55 employees matches Oakland and San Francisco, whose voter-passed laws cover all workers. 

"The gap between the richest and the poorest is growing and it's out of control," Emeryville Mayor Ruth Atkin said during the meeting. "People who work 40 hours a week should not have to be eligible for any public assistance." 

Emeryville's new wage of $12.25 an hour for small businesses will rise each year in July to $13 an hour in 2016, $14 in 2017, $15 in 2018 and $16 in 2019. After that it will rise based on the local consumer price index. For business with more than 55 employees in Emeryville, the minimum wage will start at $14.44 July 1 and rise every year based on the consumer price index. By 2019 it will be set at $16 an hour with more yearly indexed increases. 

Maribel Martinez, a janitor who works in Emeryville, urged the City Council to pass the new law. 

"I think the minimum wage should go up because everything is expensive -- food, rent," Martinez said. "And then we have to pay for people to take care of our kids. So at end of the month, we don't have money left to pay all our expenses." 

In Oakland, the minimum wage will increase each calendar year with the consumer price index. In San Francisco, the minimum wage will increase to $15 an hour by July 1, 2018, with cost of living increases after that. 

Emeryville's minimum wage beats rates already set by the state of California, Berkeley and Richmond. 

The statewide minimum wage is $9 an hour and will rise to $10 by Jan. 1. Berkeley's minimum wage is currently $10 an hour and will rise to $11 an hour Oct. 1 and then to $12.53 an hour Oct. 1, 2016. Richmond's minimum wage is $9.60 an hour and will rise to $13 an hour by Jan. 1, 2018. 

Cole Tibbetts, general manager of the Oaks Card Club on San Pablo Avenue in Emeryville, spoke against the new ordinance. 

"I'm here to ask the council to delay implementation and conduct an economic impact study," Tibbetts said. "An increase of this size and speed is going to be too much for businesses to handle in such a short time." 

City Councilwoman Dianne Martinez said she was confident businesses could handle the increase. 

"I want to show my gratitude for the small business owners who have dealt with what might be a financial blow," Martinez said. "Our workers are creative enough to figure out how to support their families on a minimum wage, and our businesses are creative enough to make it work for themselves." 

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