The purchasing power of a minimum wage income peaked way back in 1968, says Tony Thurmond — and he should know. Thurmond helped put himself through college by working the night shift flipping hamburgers at McDonald’s for minimum wage, something that wouldn’t work today.

In an Opinionator piece published on Berkeleyside, Thurmond, who is running for California State Assembly, District 15 (which includes Berkeley), argues that Richmond, Berkeley and Oakland should all raise the minimum wage and be the model for the rest of the state.

Join the debate by leaving a comment on the Opinionator piece.

Related:
Berkeley Council hears minimum wage increase pleas (04.03.14)
Minimum wage ‘tip credit’ idea gets cold shoulder (06.21.13)
Berkeley considers city-wide minimum wage hike
 (06.18.13)

Berkeleyside welcomes submissions of op-ed articles. We ask that we are given first refusal to publish. Topics should be Berkeley-related, local authors are preferred, and we don’t publish anonymous pieces. Please email submissions to us. Berkeleyside will publish op-ed pieces at its discretion.

Berkeleyside is Berkeley, California’s independently-owned local news site. Learn more about the Berkeleyside team. Questions? Email editors@berkeleyside.org.