California’s minimum wage will jump to $15.50 per hour next year, an increase triggered by soaring inflation that will benefit about 3 million workers.

When it comes to the city’s minimum wage ordinance it turns out the “Long Beach Way” will look very much like the State of California’s way, after a unanimous vote by the city council last night to align the city’s wage raise schedule with the bill signed into law by the governor earlier this year.

In yet another delay in the process of hammering out the minimum wage ordinance in Long Beach, the city council voted last night to delay discussion on a recently revised draft until a full council was present to discuss the matter.

In what’s being touted as an historic move by the California State Assembly and Senate, the legislative bodies moved quickly today to approve a measure that would raise the state’s minimum wage to $15 an hour, the highest of any in the country by over four dollars.

Today, Governor Jerry Brown announced a six-year plan to raise the statewide minimum wage to $15 an hour, just two months after the Long Beach City Council voted to raise the the minimum wage to $15 by 2021. The proposal is expected to be voted upon by the Legislature by the end of the week.

Long Beach Economic Development (LBEDC) Commissioner Michelle Molina balled up her fists, holding them out in front of her in a pugilistic pose, ready to defend her assertion that a raise in wages should not be postponed. While the pose was struck in jest, it was highly symbolic of the struggle for the “Fight for 15” as workers and businesses owners—and the EDC commissioners themselves— have been considering their positions of how high wages should be in Long Beach for months now. 

Following the release of the Council of Business Association’s (COBA) proposal for an increase in Long Beach’s minimum wage, the Downtown Long Beach Associates (DLBA) Board of Directors announced Wednesday that the organization has joined local business associations in support of COBA’s recommendations.

Yesterday, the Long Beach Economic Development Commission (EDC) began their preliminary deliberation of possible recommendations to be delivered to the council. It  was the first meeting of the Long Beach Economic Development Commission (EDC) since the conclusion of the public outreach effort that was part of the city’s quest toward a decision regarding increasing the minimum wage. The commission’s focus was on recommendations, until attention was turned toward a survey conducted with the support of area business improvement districts.