Amid growing awareness of inequality and jobs that don’t pay enough to cover child care and housing, California is considering a radical proposal: Allow the state to negotiate wages, hours and work conditions for an entire industry. Proponents in the state Legislature say one solution to inequality is to empower workers to negotiate through unions, […]
Minimum Wage
Posted inNews
Here’s What’s Ahead for California Businesses in 2022
Clogged supply chains. Hiring struggles. New mask rules. A virus that trampled right over return-to-work schedules. Last year was chaotic for many businesses across California. What does 2022 hold? Layered on top of pandemic uncertainty is the question of what policymakers might do for — and to — businesses. “2022 is going to be a […]
Posted inNews
New Laws with New Protections Ring in the New Year
With the new year come new laws and 2020 has a bevy of changes going into effect on everything from California’s minimum wage and the classification of independent contractors to protections for nursing mothers and a ban on smoking at state parks and beaches. Here’s a glance at a few of the ones that may […]
Posted inNews
Huffman Helps Pass Minimum Wage Bill; Legislation DOA in Republican Senate
North Coast Congressman Jared Huffman joined a majority of his House colleagues this morning in voting to gradually increase the federal minimum wage from $7.25 an to $15 an hour over the next six years. If approved by the Senate and signed by the president (both of which seem unlikely), the legislation would increase wages […]
Posted inNews
Raised: Local Economists Talk California’s Minimum Wage Increase
Many of Humboldt County’s lowest-earning workers stand to see their lots improve over the next six years, as the California minimum wage increases to $15 per hour. A bill, signed into law by Gov. Jerry Brown earlier this month, will increase the state minimum wage from $10 to $10.50 on Jan. 1, 2017, to $11 […]
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UPDATE: No Plans for Local Minimum Wage Initiative in 2016
UPDATE: Local activist and former Arcata City Councilmember Dave Meserve tells the Journal that, in the wake of Measure R’s defeat, he attempted to drum up support for a countywide initiative that would immediately bump the minimum wage to $12 an hour, working up to $15 over a three-year period. Meserve says he met with […]
Posted inNews
Minimum Wage Rising Everywhere But Eureka
Eureka voters’ attempt to raise the minimum wage for the city’s largest employers failed decidedly Tuesday, but that’s one small defeat in a rising minimum wage movement. Sixty-two percent of voting Eurekans cast ballots against the Fair Wage Act — the only time nationally a minimum wage measure has failed, apparently — and the overwhelming […]
Posted inNews
UPDATE: No Go For Eureka’s Fair Wage Act
SECOND UPDATE: The third election night report is in, with 67 percent of county precincts reporting, but the numbers on Measure R didn’t change from the second report. It’s likely that most, if not all Eureka precincts, are in. Over at the Siren’s Song Tavern, Fair Wage Folks gathered to listen to Turtle of the […]
Posted inLetters + Opinion
Prepping for Midterms
Midterm elections are such a yawn, right? Well, this one actually has a few hot-button issues you may care about. GMOs and $12 an hour for hamburger flippers? I was taught in journalism school that newspapers should have an opinion about the news they cover. In Humboldt County that means pissing off half your readers […]