$30 an hour?! Oakland eyes jaw-dropping minimum wage hike

California Post ^ | 4/01/26 | Ross O'Keefe

[Libloather]

Oakland workers are ready to be paid a lot more.

Worker advocates in Oakland are pressing for a $30 minimum wage, mirroring a similar goal from socialist New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani from across the country.

A worker’s organization, One Fair Wage, is hoping to put forward a ballot initiative to raise the minimum wage in the area. The organization believes the wage increase will help workers with the expensive cost of living in the Bay Area, especially with the affordability crisis.

The push comes as Oakland continues grappling with a deep structural budget shortfall and ongoing fiscal instability, with officials warning recurring expenses are outpacing revenue.

“Every time there has been a downturn or a serious challenge to the economy, in the end, we raise wages as a stimulus,” Saru Jayaraman, the president of One Fair Wage, told Center Square.

“It’s basically a stimulus in the hands of working people, who spend a much bigger percentage of their income than higher-income people because they have to. It’s survival,” she added.

One Fair Wage says the proposed ballot initiative would gradually institute the $30 minimum wage within the city and Alameda County until reaching the proposed amount in 2030. Oakland’s current minimum wage is $17.34 an hour, and California’s minimum wage sits at $16.90 an hour.

A $30 minimum wage would be the highest in the country. New York City legislators introduced a bill last month to also introduce a $30 minimum wage.

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TOPICS: Business/Economy; Conspiracy; Education; History
KEYWORDS: hike; minimum; oakland; socialinsecurity; wage

[Libloather]

Affordability. Should've demanded $40 an hour. Oakland is getting screwed.

[Steely Tom]

Heading toward $50/hr, which figure Rush Limbaugh used to illustrate craziness.

[MotorCityBuck]

Triple and I may move to Cali. ;)

[know.your.why]

I dont know how anyone esp in SoCal can live on $30/hr.

[rellic]

I’m retired.
I was employed mostly as an electronics engineer.
My BS degree was in Computer science.
My technical training was as
an USAF Avionics technician.
Companies paid me for what I could produce,
not what my race or sex was.
An eight year old kid can do most
every thing in a store, with proper
supervision. That kid is not worth 20-30$
per hour, the store can’t afford it.
Funny thing is once that kid reaches an
age where they can vote,
doing the same job, with no additional
education or credentials
is now worth 20-30$ per hour?

Democrats are delusional.
We don’t owe them a living,
they must earn it like we did.

[Uncle Miltie]

I cannot find anyone to man a shovel in my garden for under $20 an hour. I finally did get a kid for $20, he’s 15, and needs a bunch of supervision. If I lose him, my next option is $25, just to dig holes for trees and haul dirt.

[kaktuskid]

Oakland doesn’t even have enough cash to keep the stop lights on.

[rellic]

Buy a Kubota tractor and attachments. You can always sell it for about what you paid for it.
They don’t depreciate much.

[JParris]

Quit tinkering around. Make it $100/hr. Let’s make everybody rich and be done with it.

[ProtectOurFreedom]

“It’s basically a stimulus in the hands of working people, who spend a much bigger percentage of their income than higher-income people because they have to. It’s survival,”

Piker!! If they really want to put a "stimulus in the hands of working people," make it $100/hour! Or $150. It's worth it to all of us because they deserve it.

[packagingguy]

A babysitter runs $25/hr.

If someone offers a job for less than that you’re losing money just to work.

I’ve run into this, companies low balling to see if someone will bite.

“We can’t find anybody” is code for “We can’t find anybody who’ll work for our meager wages”.

[oldtech]

This is insane & probably can only get worse. What will a skilled person want? Won’t prices just get more & more out of hand? At the rate they want to go, one thing will just lead to another & I should imagine the economy will just collapse at some point.

[JennysCool]

Democrats are delusional.

We don’t owe them a living

What a perfect t-shirt!

[oldtech]

Everybody might be rich for a short time, but prices will just increase proportionally.

[Uncle Miltie]

I worked 13 hour days 7 days a week all summer long for $3 an hour.

Pretty sure inflation hasn’t been 7 fold…

[Uncle Miltie]

$3 1979 inflation adjusted per ChatGPT:

About $13–$14 in today’s dollars.
Here’s the rough breakdown:
The U.S. Consumer Price Index (CPI) was about 72 in 1979 and is a bit over 310 today.
That’s roughly a 4.3× increase in prices.
So: $3 × 4.3 ≈ $12.90
✔️ Final estimate: ≈ $13 (give or take a dollar depending on the exact month and latest CPI data).

[Myrddin]

I have an vertical ham radio antenna that is 27 ft tall. It needs a 6 foot deep hole, 10 inches in diameter to hold a steel post for support. The hole needs to be filled with concrete with the post set perfectly vertical. I've had the antenna and post for 3 years. I tried to hire a fencing company that sinks posts as part of their work. No interest. At almost 70 years old, digging the hole, hauling the sacks of concrete from Lowe's, mixing and pouring it is a tall order. Not to mention the supra celiac aortic aneurysm. I'm probably going to just sell the antenna and 4:1 balun. A disappointing situation.

[rellic]

I have a rule “to not
put anything even remotely political”
on a T-shirt.
I can’t see 360 degrees around me.
But I like your idea!

[roving]

they can’t be that dumb to think that won’t raise the cost of everything and make the $30 minimum wage moot

[MinorityRepublican]

I cannot find anyone to man a shovel in my garden for under $20 an hour.

It's like paying $8 in 1990 due to inflation.