Inequality in the country has exceeded that of the Great Depression. Zoom in to Silicon Valley, and the crisis is magnified. Silicon Valley, the poster child of groundbreaking innovation and wealth has sadly also become the nation’s capital of inequality. With the highest per capita millionaires and billionaires in Santa Clara, a raise for the lowest wage workers is way past due. The good news is, signs point to a 2015 that holds promise for significant movement toward greater economic justice. City by city, broad based coalitions and City Councils are working together to act locally, and coordinate regionally for a raise.
The movement toward significant raises in the minimum wage by cities, was born in San Jose in 2012, when a student-led ballot led to a raise the wage to $10 an hour adjusted to inflation. San Francisco had a slightly higher minimum, but it took a few years to get there. This successful movement quickly spread. Last year, Seattle and San Francisco passed raises to $15 an hour, and Oakland passed a raise of $12.75.
With economic conditions rivaling and in fact surpassing San Francisco, it is imperative for the South Bay to catch up with the new new norm of $15. In October of 2014, Mountain View and Sunnyvale led the way in the South Bay to put these cities in line with the new norm of $15. They passed ordinances matching San Jose’s ordinance, and set a goal to reach the new new norm of $15 by 2018. Soon after, the Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors approved a resolution to adopt a county living wage that will go into effect in July of 2015.
The movement is spreading, and it couldn’t be more timely. On Monday, we remembered Martin Luther King Jr who he called upon us to envision more saying, “there is nothing but a lack of social vision to prevent us from paying an adequate wage to every American citizen whether [she or] he be a hospital worker, laundry worker, maid, or day laborer.” Rather than progress, the minimum wage adjusted for inflation has fallen and economic disparity has worsened. This week Oxfam released a report claiming that by 2016, 1% will own over half of everything on earth. On Tuesday, Obama asked in his State of the Union address: “Will we accept an economy where only a few of us do spectacularly well? Or will we commit ourselves to an economy that generates rising incomes and chances for everyone who makes the effort?”
And the South Bay is saying, Yes, we will commit ourselves. A broad coalition of community and social justice groups, faith and labor organizations met this week to think through how we can lift up the floor for the lowest wage workers. Groups represented cities ranging from San Jose to San Mateo. “The desire to see the minimum wage raised locally is palpable among the people in every community in the region. With this kind of energy, a raise in the wage seems almost inevitable,” said Paul George, director of Peninsula Peace and Justice Center. More cities continue to join the coalition and sign the petition in support. We have reached a tipping point.
The local City Councils are recognizing the need to address the poor conditions for low wage workers. “Momentum is building to make a minimum wage raise a regional initiative as the Cities Association of Santa Clara County unanimously adopted as one of their priorities for 2015, raising the minimum wage to match San Jose, Sunnyvale and Mountain View’s rate and to consider joining the effort to raise it to $15. Individual cities such as Palo Alto and Cupertino are expected to be taking up the issue and consider ordinances in the upcoming months” said Margaret Abe-Koga who was the Mountain View council member who spearheaded the raise in the minimum wage in Mountain View.
I believe the South Bay can turn away from the political theater of national politics, and create true change in our community. Together, labor, faith, and community agencies can stand with our city councils and businesses and embrace the social vision MLK called for years ago. We can become not only the heart of innovation, but a place the country can look to as a model for innovation in economic and social policies.
Ultimately, no matter what a neighboring city chooses to do, the responsibility to adopt ethical policies fair to all citizens lies within the purview of each city to act on behalf of it’s own citizens. While we think regionally, we must act locally
Meghan Fraley, PhD is a psychotherapist and an organizer with Politically Inspired Action and the Raise the Wage South Bay/Peninsula Coalition.
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