APPROVED AS TO FORM AND LEGALITY
CITY ATTORNEY’S OFFICE
OAKLAND CITY COUNCIL
RESOLUTION NO. C.M.S.
INTRODUCED BY COUNCIL PRESIDENT NIKKI FORTUNATO BAS
Resolution In Support Of California State Senate Bill 525 (Durazo) That Would Create A Statewide Health Care Worker Minimum Wage Of Twenty- One ($21) Dollars Per Hour For Covered Health Care Employment Starting June 1, 2024 and Increasing To Twenty-Five ($25) Dollars Per Hour Starting June 1, 2025, Subject Thereafter To Annual Increases Of The Lesser Of Three And One-Half Percent (3.5%) Or The Annual Rate Of Change In The U.S. Consumer Price Index For Urban Wage Earners And Clerical Workers
WHEREAS, California is facing a healthcare workforce crisis that impacts the City of Oakland; and
WHEREAS, eighty-five percent of California hospitals, medical groups, home health providers, and other healthcare facilities are experiencing a shortage of allied healthcare professionals1, and even before the pandemic, the state was facing a shortage of 500,000 healthcare workers to care for our aging population2; and
WHEREAS, now, after facing the trauma and dangerous working conditions of the pandemic and struggling with low pay and poor working conditions, huge numbers of healthcare workers are leaving the field and many others are considering leaving3; and
WHEREAS, the impacts of the staffing crisis are being felt both by healthcare workers and those they serve, as demonstrated by a survey of over 30,000 healthcare worker members of Service Employees International Union-United Healthcare Workers West (“SEIU-UHW”) in which 83% of respondents said their department is understaffed4; and
1 https://revcycleintelligence.com/news/85-of-facilities-are-facing-allied-healthcare-professional- shortages
2 https://www.mercer.us/content/dam/mercer/assets/content-images/north-america/united-states/us- healthcare-news/us-2021-healthcare-labor-market-whitepaper.pdf 3 https://pro.morningconsult.com/articles/health-care-workers-series-part-2-workforce 4 https://seiuuhw.wpenginepowered.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/2022-04_Report_Staffing- Survey-10.1_DIGITAL.pdf
WHEREAS, staffing shortages have a direct negative impact on patient care; and
WHEREAS, too many healthcare workers in the City of Oakland are paid unsustainably low wages — sometimes as low as $15.50/hour, while recognizing that the City of Oakland minimum wage went up to $15.97 for eligible employees covered by Oakland’s minimum wage ordinance; and according to the MIT Living Wage Calculator, the living wage for an Oakland household with two working adults with two children is $33.50 per hour for each adult; and
WHEREAS, there is a growing movement to increase healthcare worker pay in cities across California, and since the start of 2022, several cities in California have voted to set a $25 minimum wage for local healthcare workers, including Los Angeles, Long Beach, Downey, and Lynwood, and in November 2022, voters in the city of Inglewood passed Measure HC, setting a citywide $25 minimum wage for healthcare workers; and
WHEREAS, California State Senate Bill 525 (“SB 525”) will create a statewide health care worker minimum wage of twenty-one ($21) dollars per hour for covered health care employment starting June 1, 2024 and increasing to twenty-five ($25) dollars per hour starting June 1, 2025, with potential annual increases of the lesser of three and one-half percent (3.5%) or the annual rate of change in the U.S. Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers; now, therefore, be it
RESOLVED: That the City of Oakland hereby endorses SB 525, creating a statewide healthcare minimum wage for covered health care employment in California to address the urgent patient care crisis caused by a shortage of workers needed to provide the care City of Oakland residents need, and urges the California State Legislature and Governor Newsom to support its enactment into law.
IN COUNCIL, OAKLAND, CALIFORNIA,
PASSED BY THE FOLLOWING VOTE:
AYES -
NOES –
ABSENT –
ABSTENTION –
ATTEST:
ASHA REED
City clerk and Clerk of the Council of the
City of Oakland, California