California Restaurant Association Slams Pasadena’s Decision to Raise the Minimum Wage

Members of the California Restaurant Association warned Pasadena City Council’s approval Monday of a $15 minimum wage by the year 2020 will result in more workers losing their jobs, higher consumer prices and the closure of many small businesses.

In press release issued Tuesday, the association said the approved increase did not consider mitigating provisions that job creators have been pleading for during months of discussions about the proposed increases.

“We are disappointed in the extreme minimum wage increase approved by the Pasadena City Council that increases the local minimum wage without the needed mitigations and puts local businesses at a competitive disadvantage to their neighbors,” the group said. “This action will cost many working families their jobs, increase prices for consumers and lead to the closure of small businesses, hitting women and minority-owned businesses and restaurants the hardest.”

Janna Haynes, Communications and Public Relations Manager of the Association, said small business owners in Pasadena, along with consumers, have been urging the City Council to establish policy that will keep already struggling businesses on Colorado Blvd., Lake Avenue and elsewhere in the city moving forward.

“Sadly, this increase is not coupled with mitigating provisions that would give our struggling small businesses the hope and ability to grow and thrive,” the group’s statement said.

On Monday night, the Council voted unanimously to support a pathway plan to mandating $15 per hour by 2020. The new wage increase would begin in July, bumping the minimum wage to $10.50 in Pasadena. It would then climb every year to 2018, when it would be $13.25.

The City Council will then review the impact of the ordinance on the local economy in 2019, for continuing on to its eventual goal of $15 an hour in 2020. Future raises beyond 2020 will be indexed to annual cost of living adjustments.

The City Attorney will now create the wording for the new ordinance, which will come back to the Council within about 30 days, for a full reading.