On Thursday September 10th, at the urging of COPS / Metro Alliance, San Antonio city council members unanimously voted for a living wage increase from $11.47 to $13.00 per hour, benefiting 1,300 of their lowest paid workers. By doing so, the municipality joined Bexar County in their living wage increase. Just ten days prior, Bexar county commissioners voted to increase their lowest wage to $13 / hour.
Not resting on their laurels, two weeks ago COPS/Metro leaders won a 47% increase in city funding for Project QUEST, a nationally recognized workforce training program started by the organization 23 years ago.
While this concludes an exciting year of action — which also resulted in raised wages for workers at Alamo Colleges —COPS / Metro leaders are not planning to rest long. Our long-term wage strategy includes a push to increase municipal wages to $14 / hour in fiscal year 2017 and $15 / hour the year after. On Monday, November 8, 2015, we'll kick-start our campaign to raise wages in public schools and hospital districts.
Council Approves $2.5 Billion Annual Budget, San Antonio Express-News [pdf]
More background information here.