Following up on a previous story on this blog, voters in the city of San Jose approved a minimum wage hike to $10 that began in the sociology department of San Jose State University:

San Jose voters on Tuesday agreed to increase the city’s hourly minimum wage to $10 — $2 above the statewide floor, siding with proponents of the measure who said it was necessary in order for low-income workers to survive in an increasingly pricey tech-based economy.

With all precincts counted, nearly 59% of voters had approved the measure, making San Jose only the second municipality in California and the fifth in the nation to set its own minimum wage. The others are San Francisco, Washington D.C., and Santa Fe and Albuquerque, N.M.

The measure was the brainchild of San Jose State University sociology students and was promptly embraced by labor organizations, which spearheaded the campaign…

The San Jose Silicon Valley Chamber of Commerce and other business groups had opposed the measure, saying it would force employers to slash worker hours and cut jobs, as well as discourage new businesses from moving in. The arguments were similar to those made in San Francisco, which has phased in a similar measure passed by voters in 2003. Its hourly minimum wage stands at $10.24 and will increase to $10.55 in January.

Now it will be interesting to watch what happens in San Jose after the passage of this measure. San Jose is an important place: it is the 10th largest city in the United States with close to a million residents, has strong connections to the high-tech community, and is a “re-emerging immigrant city” with a high proportion of foreign-born residents.

Also, what do you do for an encore in a sociology class or program after helping make this happen?