Wilson Comes Out Against Increase in Minimum Wage

Gov. Pete Wilson declared his opposition Friday to demands from organized labor to raise the California minimum wage above $4.25 an hour, saying any increase would harm the people it is meant to help most: minorities, youngsters and first-time job-seekers.

The Republican governor detailed his opposition at a press conference where he also announced the appointment of former state labor commissioner Lloyd Aubry, 40, as his director of industrial relations. The $106,410-a-year Cabinet position is the top labor post in state government.

Meanwhile, the state Industrial Welfare Commission, meeting a few blocks away, listened to proposals to increase the state’s minimum wage. Labor officials said they want “a substantial increase.”

The California rate of $4.25 an hour has been in effect since July 1, 1988. The federal minimum rate was raised to the same level April 1.

In response to a question, Wilson said he believed California should not “get beyond” the national level because a higher minimum wage would “prejudice” employment opportunities for youngsters, minorities and people seeking their first job.

Many Californians, Wilson said, are employed by small businesses that operate on a relatively small profit margin, and increasing the minimum wage “inevitably has the effect of putting people who are now at work out of work.”

“To the extent we increase the minimum wage in California, we have to do so knowing that it would be at the expense of a considerable number of jobs for entry-level workers,” he said.

John F. Henning, executive secretary and treasurer of the California Labor Federation, AFL-CIO, had a different message for the Industrial Welfare Commission, which is empowered to set the state minimum wage. He said $4.25 an hour “falls far short” of what is needed.

“Although the increase to $4.25 was a progressive step, it came nowhere near the level needed to recover the purchasing power once represented by the minimum wage in California,” Henning said.

Aubry, a Republican and an attorney, served as state labor commissioner from 1985-89 under former Gov. George Deukmejian. As such, he was the Department of Industrial Relations’ chief labor-law enforcement officer.

Outside the commission hearing, Henning termed Aubry a “fair to middling” labor commissioner but said organized labor would “wait and think” about whether to support Aubry when he comes up for confirmation by the state Senate.