Workers in Alameda County pushing for $30 minimum wage

On Tuesday, supporters and opponents of a voter initiative to raise the minimum wage to $30 per hour held dueling rallies at the Alameda County Board of Supervisors.  

These are challenging times both for businesses struggling to survive and their employees who can no longer afford the cost of living. So, the proposal to raise the minimum wage to $30 has created a huge chasm between the two.

"You need business owners to provide the jobs for the workers. So, if you do not provide a balance, it will die. And businesses will die and they won't come back." shouted Edward Escobar, founder of the Coalition for Community Engagement.

Both sides came to make an appeal to the Alameda County Board of Supervisors. The activists, who have already collected the required signatures, wanted the county to expedite the 30-dollar minimum wage onto the ballot this year. The business owners were asking the Board to first study what the effects of that might be.

"Thirty dollars is going to the ballot!" said Saru Jayaraman, president of the group, One Fair Wage. "And so, the only decision they have today is put it on the November ballot or say, 'We need more information.' So issue a 30-day report which would kick it to the next ballot, which would be '27 or '28."

Dezo Lacey said he supports it because, like so many others, he's been priced out of his hometown.

"The people can't afford to live here in Oakland," he said. "It's a shame that there's people that have full-time jobs here in Oakland who live in their cars. There are people who live two hours away from Oakland. How do we keep the community together if we can't even afford to live in our community?"

But standing away from all the hollering was Dennis Itua. For 28 years, he's owned the small African Caribbean Food Market in Oakland. The business has survived recessions, tech bubbles and a global pandemic.

"You know, as a business owner, we always have to adjust," he said.  "Adjust to see how we can maintain the business."

But most of Itua's inventory comes from other countries, so he's already been hit hard by inflation from tariffs. Now, some are demanding that he double how much he pays his employees.

"My question is, how did it get to that point?  What is it that made them go from $17 to $30?" Itua said. "The impact is going to be, you're going to see a lot of businesses closing down because no business will be able to afford to, you know, maintain those kinds of expenses coming from different angles."

The measure would phase in the $30-dollar wage depending on the size of the business. Large employers would reach that level by 2030, mid-size by 2035, and small businesses by 2037.  And it would mandate annual cost-of-living increases after that.  

The initiative would only affect the unincorporated areas of Alameda County.