San Jose voters will decide this fall whether to raise the minimum wage for workers in the city to $10 per hour, instead of the state minimum wage of $8 per hour. 

The initiative on the November 2012 ballot would also propose tying the minimum wage in San Jose to the Consumer Price Index, which means the minimum wage would rise in future years along with the cost of living. 

Currently, San Francisco set a minimum wage of $10.24 per hour for employees who work in the city. This rate is tied to the Consumer Price Index for urban wage earners in the San Francisco-Oakland-San Jose metropolitan statistical area.

Other cities and counties also enacted living wage ordinances that govern contracts with the local government entities.

Author: Gail Cecchettini Whaley

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