Public Comment

Good news! Minimum wage Berkeley employees receive on October 1 a one dollar increase in wages, which comes to $11 an hour. And the increase applies to tipped employees as well. Wage victories are being won in many cities in the Bay Area. These achievements represent not only moral gains. They are essential to building a sound economy. Consumer spending, which is mainly worker spending, makes up 70 percent of the domestic economy. Without boosting the income of working people, the economy will continue to languish. 

But winning good minimum wage laws are not enough. Too many employers are not obeying these laws. So not only well over a billion dollars are stolen from California workers through minimum wage violations, 83% of workers who win judgments for wage theft never get a dime. Since government is lackadaisical, working people and their allies must take charge. Among our options, we need to develop strategies that persuade the public to avoid establishments that violate the law. 

The civil rights activist, Frederick Douglass was right when he said that "power concedes nothing without a demand. It never did and it never will".