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Napa Valley Register - Napans show interest in higher minimum wage

April 10, 2015
News Articles

By Samie Hartley

Members of Progressive Women of Napa Valley set off a spark this week that they hope will inspire a fire in Napa Valley residents who support an increase to the local minimum wage.

Residents and a handful of local elected officials attended a panel discussion Thursday at Napa County Library moderated by Rep. Mike Thompson to learn about how they said a higher minimum wage could not only bring economic benefits to the valley but social gains as well.

"The economy is improving. There's no question about that," Thompson said. "... Some folks are doing real well, but sadly working families aren't. They aren't benefitting from the improvement that we're seeing. The fact of the matter is people's bills are going up and their pay is stagnant."

Lynn Perez, representing Napa County Health and Human services, shared results from Live Healthy Napa County's Community Health Assessment 2013 study that determined 26 percent of county residents are living 200 percent below the federal poverty level, earning less than $11,000 annually for a single-person household, and less than $16,000 in a two-person household.

While the minimum wage for Napa County and most of California is $9, Perez said the study "Roadmap To Cut Bay Area Poverty," conducted by Rise Together Bay Area, concluded the living wage for a Napa County resident should be $13.18 for a single-adult household and $26.55 for a household with one adult and a young child.

Panelist Ken Jacobs, chair of the Center for Labor Research and Education at UC Berkeley, told the crowd of more than 60 attendees that Napans need only look to San Francisco and San Jose to see the benefits of a raised minimum wage. Both cities passed legislation to require employers to pay above the California minimum wage.

Based on his research, Jacobs said paying employees above the minimum wage encourages workers to stay committed to their jobs, resulting in fewer turnovers and reduced training expenditures for new employees. Employees who believe they are getting paid their worth are also less likely to miss work and are motivated to put more effort into their performance, he said.

Local business owner Pete Richmond, who founded Silverado Farming Co. in 2001 to provide vineyard management services in Napa and Sonoma counties, said raising the wages for his employees has helped his company succeed.

"Why do we pay above minimum wage?" Richmond asked. "We'd like to stay in business. We're paying 40 percent over minimum wage now, and I suspect a significant move in wages next year and the year after."

In addition to paying his employees more, Richmond's business also hosts a resource fair for employees to connect them with local services such as Clinic Ole. He also established a community foundation that donates 1 percent of the annual gross profits to programs that benefit farmers workers and at-risk youth.

Last year, he said his company donated $87,000 to local programs. Taking it a step further, Silverado Farming Co also offers a profit-sharing program, dividing 10 percent of annual net profits among 75 full-time employees.

"If we don't honor our people and take care of our people, they're not going to have it," Richmond said. "They'll go somewhere else."

Chris Benner, chair of Global Information and Social Entrepreneurship at UC Santa Cruz, echoed Jacobs' assertions. Citing his research into higher minimum wages, he said there are increases in productivity, improved worker morale, and reduction of public social service expenditures.

"What do the facts show? Bottom line, there seems to no link to job loss with the raise of minimum wage and that the price increases (for consumer goods) are minimal, if anything, because businesses are able to absorb it due to new efficiencies."

While there were no panelists who went into further detail about the potential for negative side effects of an increased minimum wage, Progress Women of Napa Valley Chair Sharon Macklin said the goal of the forum was to gauge interest in starting a campaign to increase the minimum wage locally.

"I hope this is the start of something for bringing change to Napa County," Macklin said following the forum. "I'm glad to see that so many elected officials came because they are the ones who will make the decision about this. Going in today, we wanted to know if Napa is ready for a raised minimum wage, and based on the community turnout today, I think that answer is ‘yes.'"

Thompson said as an elected official it was good to see so many in attendance during the afternoon meeting because it demonstrated to him and his fellow elected officials at the session that the issue of increasing minimum wage is important to his constituents.

He would have liked to see more people in the audience who would benefit from an increased minimum wage, but he understood their lack of attendance on a work day, he said.

"Unfortunately, the people who need the bump in wages won't be here because they're off someplace working a minimum wage job," Thompson said. "Truth of the matter is if we had it later in the day, they wouldn't be here either because a lot of them are working two minimum wage jobs just to make ends meet.

"I find that troubling, and I think there is something we can and should do to make sure people earn a living."

Members of Progressive Women of Napa Valley urged attendees who feel strongly about the need for an increased minimum wage to become engaged in the political process and contact their elected representatives.

Those who couldn't attend the meeting and want to get involved are asked to email progressivewomennv@gmail.com for more details.