May 17, 2012
San Jose City Council to vote on minimum wage proposal Tuesday
On Tuesday, the San Jose City Council will vote on a proposal that will increase the minimum wage from $8 per hour to $10 per hour with automatic yearly inflation increases. It is critical that restaurant operators voicing their opposition to the proposal by emailing, calling and faxing before the hearing, as well as attending the meeting on Tuesday. We also urge you to the hearing in person on May 22
The city council could do any of the following:
- Adopt the minimum wage increase proposal as explained, which would be effective 60 days from final adoption.
- Vote to put the minimum wage increase proposal before a vote of the people in San Jose on the November ballot.
- Vote to put the minimum wage increase proposal before a vote of the people in San Jose in a Special Election before the November election.
The local minimum wage increase proposal qualified for the November ballot as an initiative after its proponents gathered the requisite number of signatures of San Jose voters. However, procedurally, the council must vote to send it to the ballot, or they could simply adopt the initiative immediately without it going to the people for a vote. The only chance to defeat a minimum wage hike in San Jose is in the November election, so it is imperative that the city council hears opposition from the businesses that the increase would affect.
Please click on the link at the bottom of this message to take you to our Action Center where a sample letter will be pre-populated for you and which you can customize. This letter will be automatically emailed to the San Jose City Council members. We ALSO urge you to call the San Jose City Council Members and their phone numbers are below. Their fax numbers are also provided so that you can also fax your letters. Please be sure to focus on the red bolded names.
Take action
Contact the council today through the Action Center.
Attend the hearing at 1:30 p.m. Tuesday to oppose the proposal. The San Jose City Hall Council Chambers is at 200 East Santa Clara St. If you plan to attend, contact Javier Gonzalez, CRA director of local government affairs, at 408.416.6344 or jgonzalez@calrest.org for details.