Supes vote to raise LA County minimum wage to $15 too

This action was sealed when newly elected county supervisor — and former Secretary of Labor — Hilda Solis confirmed over the weekend that she would vote to raise the minimum wage for county workers and in the unincorporated areas. But it was never really in doubt, even when she hesitated last month for further study. After a morning rally at the Hall of Administration by labor unions, and a parade of speakers on both sides, Solis and Supervisor Mark Ridley-Thomas voted for Supervior Sheila's Kuehl motion, setting the stage for the county's minimum wage to follow the city of Los Angeles and rise gradually to $15 an hour by 2020. The higher minimum wage was advocated by labor, which helped to elect the board majority. Board Republicans Don Knabe and Michael Antonovich, pushed by business groups, voted against the higher minimum wage in unincorporated areas. Knabe voted for a motion to implement the $15 minimum for county employees.

When $15 an hour is the law in both Los Angeles and the unincorporated areas of the county, the other 87 cities in the county will be in a new position. Perhaps more attractive to businesses looking to pay less to their lowest-paid workers, but also under political and labor pressure to get in step. "The nation is watching what we do here in Los Angeles as a region," Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti said Tuesday. The city of West Hollywood is already moving to raise its minimum wage, but that's a small city with relatively little impact. The real places to watch will be Long Beach, the county's second-largest city with almost half a million residents, and the next tier (by population) of cities such as Glendale, Santa Clarita, Pomona, Palmdale and Pasadena, which together have a population of more than 800,000 people. The city of Los Angeles has a tad over four million residents; the county more than ten million; the unincorporated areas covered by today's vote about 1.1 million.

I talked about the county minimum wage issue with "All Things Considered" host Steve Chiotakis on Monday's weekly LA Observed segment on KCRW.