UC worker minimum wage increases to $13 per hour, will increase further to $15 in 2017

By Harini Shyamsundar

On Thursday, UC workers experienced the first of three planned increases by the UC system to their hourly minimum wage, which rose to $13.

According to a press release by the UC Office of the President, or UCOP, “thousands of direct and contract employees” will benefit from this increase over the next two years. Under the UC Fair Wage/Fair Work Plan, which was announced in July, all UC employees who work 20 hours or more a week will be guaranteed an hourly wage of $13 starting Thursday. In October 2016, this minimum will rise to $14 an hour, and in 2017, to $15 an hour.

Contract workers from companies doing business with the university must pay workers at the same level or exceeding the UC minimum wage, effective in contracts renewed or established as of Thursday.

“It’s really nice,” said campus junior Sarah Dhillon, a library employee, who said she received her raise approximately a month ago.“I can put in less hours and I still get paid the same.”

The UC system is the first public university system in the United States to implement a minimum wage of $15 voluntarily, the press release said. This new hourly wage will be higher than California’s, which is currently $9 an hour and set to increase to $10 an hour on Jan. 1, 2016.

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[Source]: Daily Californian