LOS ANGELES — Long Beach this week became the fourth city in Southern California to move forward with an ordinance to increase the minimum wage to $25 for health care workers in the private sector.
Following in the steps of Los Angeles, Downey, and Monterey Park, the Long Beach City Council this week approved the ordinance in a preliminary vote and will bring it back for a final vote next week — instead of waiting to add the measure to the November ballot.
"We're all interested in a strong health care system, and I think these folks definitely deserve this raise," Mayor Robert Garcia said. "We hear from the workers on the ground that they're working double shifts, they're working overtime, many have had to leave because of all the pressures around the pandemic."
