[5]Portland raises minimum wage to $15 an hour for full-time city workers
By Oregon Small Business Association,
The Portland City Council voted on May 13 to raise the minimum wage for full-time city workers to $15 an hour. The raise will affect 16 full-time city employees and more than 150 contractors who work in city-owned buildings as janitors, parking attendants, and security guards.
Several other Portland businesses have also raised the minimum wage for full-time employees to $15 an hour. CareOregon, a health-care insurance company employing more than 500 workers, announced it will pay at least $15 an hour. In April, Ruby Receptionists announced that it would raise its starting pay to $15 an hour, up from $12.25.
Oregon’s minimum wage as of January 1, 2015, is $9.25 an hour. According to a recent poll conducted by Moore Information Inc., 55% of Oregonians favor raising the minimum wage to $12 and 41% are opposed. The highest support for the raise (66%) was in Multnomah County. According to an earlier poll conducted by Oregon Public Broadcasting, only 39% favor raising the minimum wage to $15.