(TargetLiberty.org) – West Hollywood has set a new national benchmark by increasing its minimum wage to $19.08 on Saturday, marking the highest in the United States. The wage hike has been warmly received by the city’s workforce, particularly amidst escalating costs of living such as rent, food, and fuel. On the other hand, business owners are apprehensive about the wage rise, voicing concerns about potential business closures due to escalating labor costs.
Lucian Tudor, CEO of renowned restaurant La Boheme, confided to Los Angeles media outlets that he would have to reduce his team size from 120 to 80 to cope with the wage hike. Earlier this year, businesses with more than 50 employees saw their minimum wage raised to $17.5 per hour. Tudor criticized the wage hikes, suggesting they were more of a political grandstanding exercise than an effective social measure. He also expressed that it would be more practical for tips to be taken into account when setting the minimum wage, much like in other urban centers such as New York City.
West Hollywood, nestled between Beverly Hills and Los Angeles and home to approximately 35,000 residents, was not the only city to uplift its minimum wage on Saturday. San Francisco set a new minimum wage of $18.07 per hour, Los Angeles reached $16.78 an hour, and Washington, D.C., raised it to $17.
Before West Hollywood’s hike, Seattle held the record for the highest minimum wage among U.S. cities, having raised its wage floor to $18.69 in January of this year.
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