Raising the Minimum Wage

The California minimum wage is $6.75 an hour, but as any minimum wage worker in San Francisco can tell you, that won’t get you very far in one of the most expensive cities in the United States. In the spring of 2003, a group of community based organizations and individuals, including the Central City S.R.O. Collaborative, formed a coalition to put an initiative on the ballot that would raise the minimum wage in San Francisco to $8.50 an hour. The coalition gathered more than enough signatures to qualify Proposition L for the ballot, waged a citywide voter education and turnout campaign, and managed to pass the measure by a 20% margin on November 4, 2003.

San Francisco Chronicle article

San Francisco former Supervisor Matt Gonzalez speaks at a press conference announcing the successful gathering of signatures to get Proposition L on the ballot

Hatzune Aguilar appeals to Ross Dress for Less to pay its workers a decent wage as part of the campaign to pass Proposition L