File photo. 

As Long Beach considers raising the minimum wage, it’s imperative that nonprofit leaders who serve people impacted by poverty take a strong stance in support of an increase to $15, wage enforcement, paid sick days, and no exemptions. As a group of leaders who promote social good and economic justice in our line of work, it only makes sense that we do right by the people we serve every day. 

According to data from Long Beach Rising: A City that Works for Everyone by the Economic Roundtable, raising the minimum wage to $15 an hour will impact nearly 17,000 Long Beach residents who work in the city, and help over 6,500 Long Beach workers rise out of poverty by 2020. Every worker who escapes poverty brings approximately two family members along with them. Over 14,600 people, including 5,900 children, will be lifted out of poverty by raising the minimum wage. The amount of workers in poverty will drop from 10 percent to 6 percent. It will also reduce spending on public assistance by $78 million.

But having a higher minimum wage will not mean anything if we don’t have a strong system of enforcement that allows workers to file wage claims for unpaid wages, and ensures employers are held accountable for breaking the law. More paid sick days than the state mandated of three is also critical to avoid having to place workers in a position where they have to choose between going to work sick and getting their colleagues sick, or not getting paid for a day’s work.

Since the decline of aerospace jobs, Long Beach has become increasingly dependent upon the retail and restaurant industries, which need local residents to spend money at local businesses. The more people have, the more they can spend locally at neighborhood businesses. It’s good for our community, and most importantly, it’s good for our growing economy.

The Los Angeles County Economic Development Corporation’s study on raising the minimum wage in Long Beach cited many ways that our city can assist small businesses as their labor costs increase, including shop-local and business-to-business campaigns, promoting opportunities to sell to the city, and reducing red tape for permits.

When aerospace went away and poverty increased, nonprofits worked to provide services and most importantly access to quality, life-sustaining jobs to thousands. According to a Long Beach Nonprofit Partnership report, 10 percent of Long Beach jobs are in the nonprofit sector.

Because nonprofits often serve low-income and under-resourced communities, we also see the need for a higher minimum wage to make our workforce happier, more productive, and less stressed about financial constraints. Employers benefit because there’s less turnover and less training costs for them.

Building Healthy Communities: Long Beach recently conducted a survey of nonprofit leaders and community members asking the question, “Do you support an increase to the minimum wage?” Respondents were given the options of “Yes, without exemptions,” “Yes, with exemptions,” “No,” and “Unsure.” A supermajority of the 80 respondents were in favor of raising the minimum wage without exemptions, including 75 percent of respondents who are Building Healthy Communities: Long Beach organizational partners.

Several nonprofit leaders have shown bold leadership at Mayor Robert Garcia’s roundtables on raising the minimum wage by acknowledging the importance of the work their employees perform, as well as the impact the increase will have on those they serve.

Many Long Beach nonprofits already pay well above the current minimum wage. At Mayor Garcia’s roundtable on November 17, Wende Nichols-Julien, Executive Director for The California Conference for Equality and Justice, said that her organization currently pays $15 or more per hour to its employees. Similarly, Porter Gilberg, Executive Director for The LGBTQ Center of Long Beach said his employees already make $15 per hour or are in the process of being raised to that level.

The findings from our survey as well as supportive comments from nonprofit leaders at the roundtables are consistent with a survey conducted by the California Association of Nonprofits, where the results show that 60 percent of nonprofits would be unaffected by an increase and 77 percent of nonprofits are supportive of increasing the minimum wage.

We are an incredibly diverse city with high rates of working poverty, and we can do better by raising the minimum wage the “Long Beach Way” — to lift all workers and promote policies and practices that reduce inequality in our community. As nonprofit leaders, let’s be that example for generations to come.

Christine Petit, Ph.D. is the Hub Manager for Building Healthy Communities: Long Beach.