GREEN PARTY OF CALIFORNIA
www.cagreens.org
Monday, October 24, 2005
(Originally released October 20, 2005)
Contact:
Sara Amir, spokesperson 310.270-7106 saraamir@earthlink.net
Pat Driscoll 916.320-6430 pat@sonicfrog.com
Susan King 415.823-5524 funking@mindspring.com
Beth Moore Haines 530.277-0610 beth@ncws.com
Green Party of California first to endorse
initiative to dramatically increase state minimum wage to help
'working poor'
SACRAMENTO -- An initiative filed this week to
dramatically raise the state's hourly minimum wage - to as much as
$8.75 from the current $6.75 within three years - has been endorsed by
the Green Party of California. The "California Fair Wage
Initiative" would appear on the November 2006 ballot.
Language for several versions of the initiative
was officially filed earlier this week by representatives of
Californians for Fair Wages (CFW), including Barry Hermanson, a Green
Party Assembly candidate in San Francisco and Pat Driscoll, former
Green congressional candidate from Sacramento.
A coalition of Greens, social justice, and labor
representatives formed CFW following Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's veto
- for the second year in a row - of legislation to raise the hourly
minimum wage to a modest $7.75 over two years and index it for
inflation.
The minimum wage - despite significant increases
for housing, food and energy - has not been increased since 2002. To
equal, in purchasing power, the state minimum wage paid in 1968, the
state's lowest-paid workers would have to earn about $9.50 an hour
today. California now offers the lowest minimum wage in the West.
One version of the initiative - the final version
won't be decided upon until December - would raise the minimum wage to
$8.75 an hour over three years, with an annual cost of living increase
(COLA) automatically included to keep pace with inflation. A second
version raises the minimum hourly wage to $7.75 an hour over two
years, with a COLA. This version also would add one-half of the annual
COLA to allow workers to recover purchasing power lost over the past
35 years.
"We believe this initiative, whatever the
final language will be, is not nearly enough for our minimum wage
workers. But, it is a much more progressive step than what has been
taken by either the governor, or the Legislature. It's a fair
initiative for workers, for business and for California," said
Driscoll, a GPCA official spokesperson and treasurer for CFW.
