From the Los Angeles Times:
Vic Gumper and a buddy opened their first pizzeria in Berkeley nearly 18 years ago, expanding to Oakland, Albany and this 1.1-square-mile city best known for Pixar Animation Studios, big-box retailers and a biotech cluster.
Over the years, die-hard patrons of his business have crafted personalized dolls of each Lanesplitter Pizza & Pub employee, which adorn the walls in glass cases, as does one customized Monopoly board. ("Too much Black Sabbath on the CD player. Pay $15.")
And, since April, along with newly printed menus, every table sports a laminated card explaining just what a "living wage pizza" means.
All workers now earn $15 to $25 an hour as part of an experimental business model that also did away with gratuities and raised prices, making meals at all five locations "sustainably served, really … no tips necessary."
Gumper took the plunge after Berkeley, Oakland and San Francisco increased their minimum wages, and Emeryville's council members were poised to leapfrog the others with a massive boost to $14.44 per hour, the nation's highest.
Read the rest of the story HERE
