California’s healthcare and food industry workers could receive more pay after the state legislature approved a measure to raise their minimum wage to $25 per hour.
The SB 525 bill now lands on the desk of Governor Gavin Newsom and would cover all employees of healthcare facilities, including cleaning and maintenance staff, food service workers, gift shop workers, medical coders and nursing assistants.
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A $25 minimum wage for health care workers!
A historic agreement between the California Hospital Association and @seiucalifornia.
Proud to coauthor and presentSB 525 on behalf of @senatormed which will give California healthcare workers the highest minimum wage in the… pic.twitter.com/KJ6mwVG6WH
— Matt Haney (@MattHaneySF) September 15, 2023
The labor unions representing these workers have been taking advantage of their power, and employees have grown tired of being underpaid, taking to protests this past summer, demanding fair pay for their labor.
Under the new bill, roughly 500,00 fast food workers are looking to receive at least $20 per hour next year, while more than 455,000 healthcare workers – every employee working in hospitals, dialysis clinics and other facilities – excluding doctors and nurses – will potentially see an hourly wage of $25 over the next 10 years in separate bill.
Large health care facilities with more than 10,000 full-time employees would raise their minimum wage to $23 an hour starting in 2024, with hopes of wages reaching $25 by 2026. Other healthcare facilities would not be collecting the $25 and hour wage until 2028.
The cost of the Bill’s amended version is still being calculated, but is expected to be lower than its initial estimate, given the revisions made between SEIU California and health care industry groups. The Assembly voted 59-11 to approve the Bill as the Senate followed suit with a 31-9 vote.
Nearly one million California workers are set to win salary increases if Gov. Newsom passes the Bill, although the Governor warned that he may veto some bills approved by legislature due to the state’s budget deficit which is projected to exceed $31 billion.
Newsom has 30 days to approve to veto the bill.
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