A federal appeals court in San Francisco rejected a lawsuit against the city over its "living wage" ordinance, upholding Berkeley's authority to require higher minimum wages for some workers. Strongly backed by liberal advocacy groups and labor unions, living wage ordinances have been passed nationwide. The Berkeley law set a minimum wage of $9.75 plus health benefits for companies that received financial benefits from the city such as city contracts, leases on city property or certain tax exemptions.
See "Berkeley's Living Wage Ordinance Is Upheld in Federal Appeals Court", Henry Weinstein, Los Angeles Times, June 16, 2004