California is moving to a $15 an hour minimum wage by 2022, whereas the Federal hourly minimum is fixed at $7.25. Following several consultations with Republicans in Congress, employers’ associations, and unions, California’s Democrat Governor, Jerry Brown announced the decision. California is America’s first state to cross the symbolic $15 an hour bar, coming even before the State of New York where elected representatives are still in talks with their Governor Andrew Cuomo over implementing $15 for their State by 2021.
This is not California’s first foray into measures over the minimum wage. Since January, California’s minimum wage moved to $10, far away the $7.25 floor set for the nation. However up until now Jerry Brown had resisted union demands to go further, for fear of upsetting employers, especially employers in the restaurant trade whose staff is frequently modestly paid.
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