San Jose voters last Tuesday coalesced around a local initiative that will raise the city’s minimum wage from $8 to $10, demonstrating a victory for grassroots mobilization efforts over a negative media campaign funded by business interests.
San Jose became the fifth to join a small cohort of progressive cities leading the country in setting its own minimum wage.
Among the other cities are San Francisco, Washington D.C., Albuquerque and Santa Fe.
The measure quickly gained impetus after sociology students at San Jose State University petitioned the idea to labor organizations.
This gave the campaign bandwidth to succeed amid a deluge of negative advertising from the San Jose Silicon Valley Chamber of Commerce.
“It was a complete community effort,” said Samya Abdela, a political science student at De Anza College, who was an organizer for the ‘Yes on D’ campaign.
“The other side  had the money and overwhelming media presence.
“They thought they could win by flooding your mailbox or your TV with ads.
I think it speaks a lot about how democracy works.”
At a time of unprecedented money in politics, the concern of its influence in California is questionable, considering Prop 30, the proposition that raises taxes on California’s wealthy for education, narrowly passed because of fierce financial headwinds from the private sector.
The Chamber of Commerce claims that raising the minimum wage would cause businesses to reduce employee shift as well as cut jobs.
They argued it would make San Jose less competitive with neighboring cities because businesses would avoid coming to San Jose.
While there are economic reasons against raising the wage, many believe there is a moral obligation to do so.
With rising costs on necessities like gas, food, rent and tuition, struggling students may be in a better position to afford college.
“With a higher minimum wage, hard workers might have a chance at upward mobility,” said Joann Pham, a paralegal student at De Anza College.
“They tend to view education as too risky when lacking resources, so this could allow them to actually save money to invest in their future and to recognize their own potential.”
With similar arguments made in San Francisco, the economic reasons for not raising the wage have not come to bear since the city raised its minimum wage in January
Currently, San Francisco is experiencing a jobs boom.
Its unemployment rate fell to 6.9 percent last month, the lowest since 2008.
After Mayor Chuck Reed of San Jose opposed the measure and the City Council abstained, students and supporters demonstrated what could be achieved through California’s process of direct democracy.
The passing of Measure D will have numerous affects on the residents of San Jose, but will make living in the city more affordable for many.