California lawmakers and union leaders have reached a “tentative” deal to raise the minimum wage to $15 over the coming years.
The Los Angeles Times reports that the minimum wage will jump from $10 to $10.50 an hour in 2017 and will increase by $1 every year after that until reaching $15 an hour in 2022.
Businesses that have fewer than 25 employees will be allowed one extra year to comply.
From The Hill:
The arrangement staves off a potential political showdown in California; union leaders have threatened to take the issue directly to the ballot, and polls have shown public support for minimum wage initiatives.
One union-backed initiative has been working to get on the ballot, and another has already qualified, the L.A. Times reports; its backers are hoping the new agreement will allow them to withdraw the proposal.
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Sean Wherley, a spokesman for SEIU-United Healthcare Workers West, confirmed that the SEIU parent union was involved in the negotiations, adding that SEIU-UHWW’s leadership will make the decision on whether to go forward with its initiative that has already qualified for the ballot.
“Ours is on the ballot. We want to be certain of what all this is,” Wherley said according to ABC News. “If some agreement is signed into law, then our executive board would decide what to do. They would only make that decision after any agreement is signed into law.”
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