The Board of Supervisors passed a living wage ordinance in 2015, requiring that the county and large contractors pay workers $15 an hour. The law also mandates that the board annually consider applying a cost-of-living adjustment. Moreover, the supervisors instructed staff to meet with advocates to develop language for additional provisions.
Five years, three fires, and one flood later, the board will soon complete its deliberations.
By revising the law, the supervisors can make the county, the largest employer and contractor in the North Bay, a model employer and demonstrate their commitment to addressing structural inequality and systemic racism in the labor market.
Since 1995, more than 120 cities and counties nationwide, including Sebastopol, Sonoma, Petaluma and 40 others in California, have enacted living wage laws in response to soaring inequality and the vast expansion of low-wage employment. Fundamental to this movement is the principle that taxpayer funding should not create poverty-wage jobs. Every resident deserves a wage that enables them to support their families without relying on government assistance.
In Sonoma County, according to United Way of California, a living wage is $23 an hour for two parents, each working full-time to support two children and pay for rent, health care, food, child care, transportation and taxes.
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