(PartiallyPolitics.com) – On Friday, Gov. Gavin Newsom (D-Calif.) signed Senate Bill 525 which is going to increase the minimum wage for health care employees in his state to $25 per hour. California has been experiencing a healthcare staffing shortage since the pandemic.
The decision made by Newsom has been supported by California’s Service Employees International Union (SEIU). In a statement released by the union’s executive director Tia Orr it was noted that Californians had witnessed the commitment of healthcare workers during the pandemic and their dedication to ensuring that the state had a strong healthcare system that was accessible to everyone.
In early 2022 the state set as a requirement that the minimum wage across all industries needed to be increased to $15 per hour. On Friday, Newsom signed a bill that established five different increases to wages depending on the employer.
The bill was introduced to the state Senate by State Sen. María Elena Durazo, who thanked Newsom for signing the bill in a post on X, formerly known as Twitter.
A University of California Berkeley Labor Center report found that the bill is going to increase the wages of 455,000 employees and that three-fourths of the employees who will have their wages increased are women, while 76 percent of those eligible for a wage increase are people of color.
Those who are involved in patient care, certified nursing assistants, medical assistants, technicians, security and janitorial staff, and food service workers among others are going to benefit from the increase in wages.
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