San Jose State University students kicked off their petition campaign Thursday for a ballot measure to raise the city’s minimum wage from $8 to $10 an hour.
Elisha St. Laurent is a senior studying behavioral science and sociology. She says that as a single mother of a 5-year-old boy she takes the campaign personally.
“You’ve got all the odds against you,” St. Laurent says. “But I keep continually fighting for what I believe in and that’s an education. But at the same time, living on minimum wage, I am not adequately making enough to provide for my son.”
St. Laurent, who was among the first to sign the petition, says it’s nearly impossible for someone earning minimum wage to live in Silicon Valley. She thinks it’s significant that students created the petition.
“It’s all about social action,” St. Laurent says. “We are the people. We need to speak out and become leaders. It’s not one person speaking out. It’s all of us collectively speaking together.”