Garcetti calls for boosting minimum wage to $13.25 after three years

Leading a Labor Day rally at a park in South Los Angeles, Mayor Eric Garcetti proposed on Monday creating a minimum wage in Los Angeles that would reach $13.25 after three years.

Garcetti was backed by billionaire businessman Eli Broad, County Federation of Labor chief Maria Elena Durazo and seven members of the City Council, who will have to approve the increase.

Garcetti’s plan follows those of several West Coast cities this summer -- San Diego, San Francisco and Seattle -- in mandating wages well above those required by the state and federal governments.

The $13.25 proposal will stir opposition from business groups, who say it will force employers to cut jobs, and from some in the labor movement, who wanted bolder action to match the $15 wage approved by Seattle in June.

Garcetti also released an economic analysis prepared by academics at UC Berkeley that said an L.A. wage of $13.25 -- $4.25 more than the state minimum of $9 -- would significantly improve the lot of low-income workers and impose minimal burdens on business.

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