HomeMy WebLinkAboutResolution No. 83500
RESOLUTION NO. 8350
A RESOLUTION OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF AZUSA
URGING THE INDUSTRIAL WELFARE COMMISSION TO
ADOPT AN INCREASE IN THE MINIMUM WAGE
WHEREAS, hundreds of thousands of California residents,
a majority of whom are adults, work at the current minimum wage
of $3.35 an hour, and
WHEREAS, inflation has eroded the value of their
earnings by 27% since 1981, the last time the minimum wge was
raised, and
WHEREAS, a family of four, with one member working full-
time and year round at the current minimum wage, falls $4,000
short of the official poverty level, an indication of the
inadequacy and immorality of the current wage floor, and
WHEREAS, California State law required the Industrial
Welfare Commission (IWC) to set the minimum wage at a level that
provides California workers with the necessary cost of proper
living and maintains their health and welfare, and
WHEREAS, the recent proposal of the IWC to raise the
minimum wage to $4.00 an hour, based on a budget for a minimum
wage worker that permits only $4.66 a day for food is woefully
inadequate, and
WHEREAS, the same proposal of the IWC to permit full
time students under 21 years old to receive a sub -minimum wage of
85% of the minimum wage unfairly discriminates against youth of
our society, and
WHEREAS, just as Social Security payments are indexed to
reflect changes in the cost of living, so too, should the
official wage floor that protects workers from exploitation, and
WHEREAS, notwithstanding the exaggerated claims of many
employer associations to the contrary, econometric studies and an
analysis of the historical record have shown that the effects of
minimum wage increases on unemployment and inflation have always
been significant, and
WHEREAS, it is irrational public policy to force tax
payers to pay for the health care and welfare costs of minimum
wage workers, thereby subsidizing low wage employers, and
WHEREAS, the United Neighborhoods Organization (UNO),
the South Central Organizing Committee (SCOL), and the East
Valleys organization (EVO), have called for the following:
1. $5.01 per hour,
2. the minimum wage be pegged to the
California Necessities Index thereafter,
3. the provision for youth sub -minimum wage
only affect youth under 18 years of age.
0
NOW, THEREFORE, THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF AZUSA
DOES HEREBY endorse the above demands of UNO, SCOC, and EVO, and
urges the IWC to implement a moral minimum wage of $5.01 an hour
with appropriate indexing, and without provision for sub -minimum
wages for persons under 21 years of age, and further that a copy
of this resolution be transmitted to Lynell Pollock, James Rude,
Michael Callahan, David Padilla and Muriel Morse, the members of
the Industrial Welfare Commission.
The City Clerk shall certify to the adoption of this
resolution.
ADOPTED AND APPROVED this 7th day of December, 1987.
MAYOR
I HEREBY CERTIFY that the foregoing resolution was duly
adopted by the City Council of the City of Azusa at a regular
meeting thereof, held on the 7th day of December, 1987, by the
following vote of the Council:
AYES: COUNCILMEMBERS: AVILA, COOK, CRUZ, LATTA, MOSES
NOES:
NONE
ABSENT: COUNCILMEMBERS: NONE
CITY CLERK