Local News in Brief : Sub-Minimum Pay Plan
About 400 college students and community leaders attended an Assembly committee hearing Thursday at East Los Angeles Community College to protest a move to establish a state sub-minimum wage of $3.40 an hour for full-time students under 21.
The little-known but powerful state Industrial Welfare Commission has voted to raise the wage rate for students--the bulk of the minimum wage work force--a nickel above the federal minimum wage of $3.35 an hour. At the same time, it plans to raise the minimum wage for most workers in California to $4 an hour.
The commission is scheduled to take a final vote on the two-tiered wage system in December.
State Sen. Art Torres (D-Los Angeles) and representatives of the California State Student Assn., among others, said the sub-minimum wage concept violates the ethic of equal pay for equal work and is a disincentive for students to stay in school.
The commission will hold a public hearing on the matter Saturday in the Los Angeles City Council chambers.
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