MINIMUM WAGE HIKE BOON TO MANY, A WORRY TO OTHERS 1.4 MILLION WORKERS' PAY WENT TO $7.50 AN HOUR JAN. 1.

Byline: GIDEON RUBIN Staff Writer

PALMDALE -- On the busy days, Ali Maadarani said, he serves up to 100 customers an hour at Palmdale's busy Jamba Juice store, where he earns minimum wage.

Maadarani, a 21-year-old Antelope Valley College student, said he does it to help support his 2-year-old son, Ahmad.

But after calculating fuel costs and seeing what's left of his paychecks after taxes, Maadarani admits sometimes he questions whether it's all worth it.

``There's times when I can't stand it,'' he said. ``I just feel like walking out.''

Maadarani is among 1.4 million California employees who recently were given an added incentive to stay at their jobs. On Jan. 1, the state's minimum hourly wage was increased from $6.75 an hour to $7.50. The rate will be raised an additional 50 cents an hour Jan. 1, 2008.

California is tied for the nation's sixth-highest state-mandated minimum wage with Massachusetts.

Washington's $7.93 minimum wage is the nation's highest. Eight states pay $5.15, the federal government's base minimum-wage requirement.

Some California cities have imposed higher minimum wages. San Franciso's is $9.14. Los Angeles employees whose work is tied to the city, such as airport employees, are paid a minimum of $10.33 if they do not receive benefits, and $9.08 if they do.

The 75-cent increase is the largest increase since the state mandated a 16-cent minimum hourly wage in 1916. The 11.1 percent bump is the first minimum-wage increase in five years.

Maadarani, who started working at Jamba Juice in September, also works as an automobile wholesaler. He cited increased cost-of-living expenses, especially the meteoric rise in fuel costs, as among the factors that make a minimum-wage increase a necessity.

Six states adjust minimum wages according to cost-of-living expenses.

``I'm grateful the government is doing something to help people out, but it's long overdue and it isn't enough,'' Maadarani said. ``It's impossible having a kid with child support.

``Luckily, I have a second job.''

The Jan. 1 increase was opposed by most Republican lawmakers but was signed into law in September by Republican Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger.

Assemblywoman Sharon Runner, a Republican who represents the 36th District that includes the Antelope Valley, voted against the bill. Runner said she's uncomfortable with government mandating how much businesses should pay employees, and she's concerned about the effect it could have on job creation.

Congress voted to raise the national minimum wage incrementally from $5.15 to $7.25 by March 2009.

``It seems like the whole country's going that way, but I just think California will be losing employees as opposed to gaining employees by raising the (minimum) wage,'' Runner said. ``What we've got to do is have more people working out there.''

Paul Heroy, who owns all five Antelope Valley Blockbuster video stores, said the minimum-wage increase will have a negligible effect on his business, noting that the minimum wage at his store is primarily a ``training wage'' for new employees.

Some believe it could help businesses by pumping more money into the economy.

``Maybe people will spend more because they have more money now,'' Blockbuster employee Nicole Vandermark said.

Runner said she's concerned that the increase will cause employers to seek more experienced employees for higher-paying jobs, potentially making it more difficult for teenagers to get valuable employment experience.

She said minimum-wage jobs were never intended to pay living wages.

Maadarani is hopeful he won't have to work for minimum wage much longer.

He completed a 31/2-month emergency medical technician training course last fall at Antelope Valley College, and takes a certification test next month that would allow him to start working as an EMT, a job that pays significantly higher wages.

``You have to constantly be trying to move up,'' he said. ``If you want to be doctor, then stick with it and go to school for eight years.''

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(color) Ali Maadarani, with his son, Ahmad, works two jobs to make ends meet, and he is glad the state's minimum wage has gone up.

Gene Blevins/Special to the Daily News