The living wage is a simple but powerful concept: workers should make enough to support themselves and their families. Over the last several decades, new jobs have increasingly paid lower wages, good paying jobs are disappearing and the minimum wage buys less now than it did in the 1960’s. In response to this trend, EBASE has championed higher wages and working standards by passing living wage laws throughout the East Bay.

Living Wage laws:

• Raise wages for all workers—even those not directly covered by a living wage law
• Provide access to healthcare
• Ensure public money doesn’t create poverty jobs
• Provide workplace protections and ensure workers aren’t unfairly retaliated against

The principle behind living wage laws is simple: public money should be used for the public good, and businesses benefiting from that money should be required to provide decent, family-supporting jobs. Living wage campaigns pass local policies requiring private businesses that receive taxpayers’ money to pay a wage that allows workers to live above the poverty line. These laws commonly apply to businesses that hold large city or county service contracts, receive public subsidies, or occupy public land.

Since 1998, EBASE has partnered with several dozen labor and community organizations in powerful coalitions to raise a progressive voice for economic change and win living wages for Berkeley, Emeryville, Hayward, Oakland, the Port of Oakland, Richmond, and San Leandro.

In addition, EBASE has raised workplace standards at the Port of Oakland.  EBASE played an instrumental role in the creation of the Maritime and Aviation Project Labor Agreement, which significantly increased access to $3 billion worth of Port-related construction work for Oakland residents; successfully sponsored a ballot initiative that created living wage and labor standards requirements for 3,000 workers at Airport and Seaport businesses; and advocated with the Port to incorporate these employment standards into the Request for Proposals (RFP) for Oakland Airport concessions, a campaign that parallels our current one to clean up Port trucking.