This piece was originally published by Capital & Main.
As our “State of Equality” series has documented, economic inequality poses a grave threat to California’s future. But conditions would be far worse were it not for the progress made by determined activists, community leaders and lawmakers. In the last several years, California has generated some of the nation’s most innovative and effective strategies to reverse inequality. Here Judith Lewis Mernit lists 10 landmark achievements worth celebrating and emulating. — Editor
1. PAY FAIR Nothing says economic equality like a decent living wage and, in 2013, California became the first state to raise its minimum wage to $10, with built-in cost-of-living increases. (The policy takes full effect in 2016.) Last November San Francisco voters also voted to raise the city’s hourly minimum wage from $10.74 to $12.25 by May, and $15 by July 2018. Oakland residents did the same: 82 percent of them voted for Measure FF, which will increase the city’s minimum wage from $9 to $12.25. Furthermore, in October a long campaign waged by Working Partnerships in Silicon Valley led to Mountain View’s City Council approving a $10.30 hourly minimum wage starting July 1; annual cost-of-living increases will boost it to $15 by 2018.
Since 1997, when Los Angeles became one of the nation’s first cities to approve a living wage ordinance for its service contractors, more cities and counties have followed suit. Last year Santa Clara County required all companies and nonprofits that contract with it to pay a “comprehensive” living wage: $17.06 per hour with benefits, $19.06 without.
–
In April of last year, Los Angeles’ City Council and the Mayor instituted the “Zero Waste LA Franchise System” ordinance, which opens up to competitive bidding waste collection routes not controlled by the city—those servicing apartments, condos and small businesses. Companies who vie for the right to operate in one of the city’s 11 franchise zones must adhere to certain standards, agreeing to divert 90 percent of recyclables and green waste from landfills, paying drivers a living wage and protecting whistleblowers. Sorting facilities used by waste-collection companies have to be identified and certified, to make sure waste is properly handled.
“In terms of waste and recycling,” Cornejo says, “it’s the most transformative policy we’ve seen in the country.”
(Judith Lewis Mernit is a contributing editor at High Country News. Her writing has appeared in Mother Jones, Sierra, the Los Angeles Times, Audubon Magazine and the Atlantic.)
