By Peter Geharty
April 22, 2020
The coronavirus may have closed businesses and left owners and workers feeling uneasy about their future, but those working in this city on minimum wage are still on track to get a raise.
The minimum wage in Alameda, now $13.50 an hour, will jump to $15 an hour starting in July, despite the pandemic.
The City Council decided unanimously Tuesday to go ahead with the raise, initially approved in October 2018.
Under state law, businesses with at least 26 employees must pay at least $15 an hour starting Jan. 1, 2022. But officials in some cities, such as Alameda, wanted the increase to happen sooner, especially against the backdrop of the East Bay’s housing crisis and the high rents that have left people scrambling to find affordable places to live.