More than 200 trade union members and technologists gathered in Sacramento this week at a first-of-its-kind conference to discuss how AI and other tech threatens workers and to strategize for upcoming fights and possible strikes.

“This is a big deal,” said Ken Jacobs. “Last time Trump was in the White House and had his people in control of the board, they put in a pretty big number of important rulings that narrowed the scope of protected activity and made it harder for workers to organize and collectively bargain.”

Home care workers who provide assistance to elderly and disabled Californians could see more wage equality, according to a recent labor report, by shifting contract negotiations to the state level instead of bargaining individually with California’s 56 individual counties.

“This is a pretty clear reflection of recognition of how important labor unity is going to be in this next four years, when we have a Trump administration that we can expect to be hostile to the interests of working people,” Ken Jacobs said.

During Trump’s first term, congressional Republicans proposed slashing Medicaid funding, though the measure did not clear the U.S. Senate. Had it passed, “California would have lost tens of billions of federal dollars,” Lucia said. Should the Trump administration go after the program on a similar scale in 2025, California wouldn’t be able to fill the resulting revenue hole with state funds.

Regardless of the rates paid, “It’s important to point out that none of [these minimum wages] are anywhere near what is a living wage in the Bay Area,” Jacobs said.

Numerous city and county minimum wages will increase on Jan. 1 or later in 2025. The University of California Berkeley Labor Center provides an Inventory of U.S. city and county minimum wage ordinances.

A helpful component of the mandated increases, whether at the statewide level or in individual cities, is that they’re tied to an index for measuring inflation. “The increases will be very welcome relief to millions of low wage workers in the state,” Jacobs said.

According to an inventory compiled by the UC Berkeley Labor Center, 40 cities and counties in California have pay rates higher than the state minimum wage.

Teen Vogue reached out to Jaz Brisack, one of the most well-known salts in the modern labor movement.

For every $1 increase in the minimum wage, low-income households spend an additional $2,800 annually. According to the UC Berkeley Labor Center, taxpayers also benefit because of significant declines in state and federal government expenditures for food stamps, school lunches, housing assistance, Medicaid and Children’s Health Insurance programs.

Being a gig worker for Uber, Lyft, DoorDash, Walmart Spark, and other apps came with opportunities and lots of challenges in 2024.

In addition, numerous city and county minimum wages will increase on Jan. 1 or later in 2025. The UC Berkeley Labor Center provides a comprehensive Inventory of US City and County Minimum Wage Ordinances.

The following California cities also offer a higher minimum wage than the state, as of Jan. 1, according to the UC Berkeley Labor Center.

Jacobs says although California has one of the highest minimum wage requirements in the country, it’s still well below the cost of living.

As recent research from UC Berkeley demonstrates, incorporating labor agreements does not significantly inflate the cost of affordable housing projects and delivers crucial benefits for workers and communities.

UC Berkely Labor Center posts yearly a list of California city and county minimum wages that can be found here.

Jacobs says although California has one of the highest minimum wage requirements in the country, it’s still well below the cost of living.

Here’s a full list of cities/counties with higher minimum wages beginning in 2025, as compiled by UC Berkeley.

This is the second article in a series describing the first six years, from 2014 to 2020, in the transformation of one of the largest local unions in the United States, United Teachers Los Angeles (UTLA). The transformation continues today under Cecily Myart-Cruz’s presidency.