SEIU Demands $21 an Hour Minimum Wage in San Francisco

14 Apr, 2014 by Duane Lester

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There was a time when a conservative would say, “Why not set the minimum wage at $20 an hour? and liberals would say, “Don’t be ridiculous.” : Today, they say “That’s not enough.”

From fighting Google buses to protesting Ellis Act evictions, San Francisco’s 9,475-member Service Employees International Union local has been leading the campaign for a more livable city. Now it’s putting its members’ own economic agenda front and center at City Hall.

The SEIU’s proposed new contract with the city includes calls for:

— A 15 percent raise over the next three years.

—: A $21-an-hour minimum wage for all city workers.

— Fully paid health coverage for single workers, 98 percent paid coverage for couples and 85 percent coverage for families.

— A free clinic just for city workers to go along with the health coverage.

— A free $50,000 life insurance policy for SEIU workers. Seven other city unions already have free life insurance.

The union has dropped its call for a $76-a-month commuter subsidy and premium pay while off on paid holidays.

The city is countering with a 2.5 percent raise over two years, and no clinic, no free life insurance and a health care package of 93 percent coverage for singles and couples and 83 percent for families.

“This is about income equality,” said Larry Bradshaw, vice president of SEIU Local 1021. He noted that when times were lean, workers took cuts. Now with the economy on the upswing, he said, they deserve their share.

I was going to write “They will never be satisfied.” : But then I realized what would satisfy them.