With its decision to raise the minimum wage to $15 per hour by 2018 and tie future wage increases to the regional San Francisco Bay Area Consumer Price Index (CPI), Mountain View has set a new regional standard. To keep pace, Silicon Valley cities will need to allow their minimum wage increases to be driven by either the national or San Francisco Bay Area CPI, whichever is higher in the given year.
Currently, a number of South Bay cities, like San Jose, have their minimum wage increases tied to the national CPI. While from 2002 to 2011 the national CPI increased at a higher rate than the San Francisco Bay Area CPI that has not been the case in recent years. The result is that workers in these cities are earning less real wages. It is estimated that full-time minimum wage workers in San Jose will lose $900 in earnings in 2016 because the minimum wage is specifically tied to the national CPI.
By linking the minimum wage to the higher of the two CPIs, regional or a national, we ensure that minimum wage workers do not fall further behind economically.
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