Siegel Stands With the Community to Raise the Minimum Wage

We Believe in a Fair Wage for Workers

Last Saturday, we joined community members, organized labor and clergy at Fruitvale Plaza to support a November ballot initiative that would increase Oakland’s minimum wage to $12.25 an hour and extend sick leave to all workers.

Following the rally, we went into our city’s neighborhoods to collect 30,000 signatures from Oakland voters who believe in a ‘Wage that Works’.

The ‘Raise the Wage’ campaign has even taken root in the Bay Area cities of San Francisco and San Jose who have both successfully increased the pay for their service industry’s lowest paid workers.

On February 12th President Obama signed an executive order to increase the minimum wage for employees of federal contract workers and he urged Congress to follow suit and increase pay for all American workers.

We agree. And the long-term goal should go even further. Dan is opposed to a minimum wage that does not keep pace with inflation or allow working individuals to earn sick leave.

"Increasing the minimum wage to $12.25 is an important step towards my goal of implementing a $15 minimum.”

“My campaign for mayor is based on the premise that we can create a safe and prosperous city only by ensuring that all Oaklanders enjoy social and economic justice. A society that condemns large numbers of its members to lives of poverty, unemployment, inequality and despair cannot long survive. Increasing the minimum wage is an important step towards creating a just society, towards creating a city in which all people have a stake in living together in peace and harmony.”-- Dan Siegel

Check out Dan's OpEd in The Oakland Post: http://postnewsgroup.com/blog/2014/02/14/op-ed-support-campaign-raise-oaklands-minimum-wage/