Los Angeles to raise minimum wage from $9 to $15 an hour

LOS ANGELES, May 19 (UPI) -- The Los Angeles City Council on Tuesday approved a plan to raise minimum wage in the city to $15 per hour by 2020.

Under the proposed plan, minimum wage will increase incrementally from the current $9 per hour to $15 per hour each year on July 1 until 2020. The dates will be pushed back by one year for small businesses with 25 or fewer employees.

The tentative plan -- an official ordinance must still be drafted and voted upon -- comes after nearly a year of debate among city and labor leaders. The ordinance would boost the wages of up to 800,000 workers.

The 14-1 approval by the city council makes Los Angeles the largest U.S. city to approve a minimum-wage hike of this size.

"Make no mistake," Councilman Paul Krekorian told the Los Angeles Times. "Today the city of Los Angeles, the second biggest city in the nation, is leading the nation."

But some small-business owners aren't so happy about the news, saying it may force them to lay off employees or move their business outside of the city.

"The very people [council members'] rhetoric claims to help with this action, it's going to hurt," said Ruben Gonzalez of the L.A. Chamber of Commerce.

"It's simple math," Gonzalez said. "There is simply not enough room, enough margin in these businesses to absorb a 50-plus percent increase in labor costs over a short period of time."

The first minimum wage increase -- from $9 to $12 -- is scheduled to go into effect July 1, 2016.