Minimum Wage

I never thought that trying to extend the city's "living wage" law to a dozen hotels near Los Angeles International Airport was a good idea. Please don't misunderstand. Directing businesses to pay their employees at least $10.64 an hour is a smart and principled way to help the working poor. Those who insist that such a policy would trigger a huge loss of jobs are flat-out wrong.

The nation's home healthcare aides are not entitled to minimum wages or overtime pay under federal law, even if they work for private employers, the Supreme Court ruled Monday. The 9-0 decision, which keeps in place a long-standing rule that denies minimum wages and overtime pay to those who provide "companionship services" at home, could trigger a move in Congress to amend the law.

Today is a day that organized labor has awaited for nearly 10 years: The federal minimum wage jumps from $5.15 to $5.85 an hour, the first of three increases scheduled by Congress earlier this year. But for low-income workers, the minimum wage is useful only if it is enforced, and many students of American wage patterns believe that the law is not enforced strictly enough.

The divide between rich and poor in California has been growing for decades, with most of the jobs created in the state paying wages at opposite ends of the spectrum and the top earners pulling down the biggest gains, according to a report from a nonprofit research group. The California Budget Project said in the report, to be released today, that wages for people toiling at the bottom of the pay range dropped 7.

As part of a crackdown on California's underground economy, state officials sued two janitorial companies Wednesday, alleging "flagrant violations" of labor laws at restaurants in Los Angeles, San Diego and Orange counties. The suit accuses Excell Cleaning & Building Services Inc. and MO Restaurant Cleaning Services of California Inc.

Recognizing that his combative tactics and rightward shift flopped with voters, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has been trying out a new identity ahead of tonight's State of the State speech: that of a humbled centrist ready to give ground to his rivals. The governor's office has carefully orchestrated leaks on a string of proposals that will be formally announced in the speech.

If Arnold Schwarzenegger is serious about helping low-income workers, he should ditch regulations he proposed last year that could make it easier for employers to pressure workers to not take their legally required meal breaks, labor leaders said Thursday. The comments came as Schwarzenegger pledged Thursday night in his annual State of the State speech to boost the $6.75-an-hour minimum wage by $1 over the next 18 months.

The California business community's long-standing opposition to boosting the state's minimum wage is eroding -- at least for now -- amid a growing recognition that increases are inevitable and previous hikes haven't produced dire economic consequences. But consumers should expect to help pick up the tab by paying a bit more to eat in restaurants, sleep in hotels or buy other products and services produced by the state's lowest-paid workers, experts said.

The General Assembly will consider legislation calling for the state to no longer tie its minimum wage to that set by the federal government. Business groups strongly oppose the legislation. Backers of the wage increase say that after years of waiting for Congress to raise the $5.15an-hour rate, it is time to press ahead at the state level for the sake of low-income workers. The move comes as 18 other states and Washington, D.C.

I KNOW FIRSTHAND how the minimum wage affects California's low-wage earners and small-business employers. As a young man, I worked long hours in the strawberry fields alongside my father, who also worked for minimum wage. My mother and father understood the daily struggle of providing the necessities for their children while earning only the lowest allowable wage.