Public Comment

It’s hard to even call it “economic inequality” any more here in Berkeley. Rents are skyrocketing—but wages are flat. Families can’t keep their heads above water, and are being pushed out of Berkeley. We are in danger of losing our diversity and history, while gaining only a bigger gap between rich and poor. 

Berkeley should be leading on this issue of income inequality. Unfortunately the City Council leadership refuses to. When Oakland raised their minimum wage to $12.25, what did the Mayor and the majority on City Council in Berkeley do? Kept it at $10. When Emeryville went even further, up to $15, Berkeley stayed at $11. And when California passed a long-term bill to bring the state to $15, again Bates, Capitelli, et al ducked their heads, hoping to avoid the issue. 

The result of our do-nothing Berkeley City “leaders”? Pain and heartbreak for our minimum wage workers. Folks punching a clock in Berkeley have it tougher than our neighbors around us. The lower wages could total thousands of dollars lost every year for Berkeley fast-food cooks, store clerks, gardeners, and other low-paid workers. 

These folks are also hit by the lack of adequate paid sick leave—which, again, they would benefit from in Oakland or San Francisco, but not here in conservative Berkeley. Nope, here in Berkeley, our fast-food workers are forced to go to work sick—despite the risks to themselves and their customers. 

What is going on here? Follow the money. The Council is dominated by politicians with long ties to the Chamber of Commerce, and the Restaurant Association. And they just care more about their donors than they do about their residents. 

We have a chance to call these politicians to account and demand they do better. When they next meet, on June 14th, they will consider a ballot initiative that has the support of thousands of Berkeley voters who signed to put it on the ballot. It will: 

• Raise the Minimum wage to the official City of Berkeley Living Wage:
  1. $15 in October 2017;
  2. Then yearly 3% plus inflation increases to catch up to the Living Wage – currently $16.37;
  3. Follow inflation after that
• Implement sick leave at the standards set by Oakland and SF
• Provide for fair enforcement

What is the response of Capitelli and his cohorts on City Council? They have “sprung into action” with a competing initiative designed to water down the law. It’s the kind of proposal only a lobbyist could love: 

• Delays real minimum wage increases and limits them permanently below the City’s official Living Wage. The City defines their Living Wage as “a wage that can support a family at, or above, the poverty level”
• Allows a substandard cap on sick leave
• Makes further wage increases nearly-impossible by demanding a 2/3 vote on them

Why doesn’t the City Council just take action? They have enough votes to immediately make their proposal into law. Why don’t they? 

Because they aren’t working to lift up the poorest among us. They are instead pulling a cynical trick, throwing up an unnecessary initiative to confuse debate about the issue.  

While these politicians keep up their dirty tricks, the poor in Berkeley just get poorer. Let’s not stand for it any longer—support a real increase in the minimum wage! Support the initiative that brings it up to the Living Wage. Support the council members who stand up to Bates and Capitelli.  

Submitted by the following long term Berkeley residents and members of Berkeley for Working Families: 

Wendy Bloom, Nurse at Children’s Hospital, member of CA Nurses Association 

Mike Donaldson, SEIU 1021 

David Fielder, 

Ned Pearlstein, Retired instructor - Peralta Federation of Teachers 

and 

Steve Gilbert SEIU 1021 – Oakland