Slideshow President Barack Obama is scheduled to land at Moffett Field for a two-day visit to Mountain View and Los Altos. Photo: President Obama lands at Moffett Field June 6, 2013, to attend fundraisers in Palo Alto. Photo by Veronica Weber. Previous Next

With President Barack Obama arriving in Mountain View this afternoon, activists working to raise the minimum wage in Mountain View are planning to greet the president when he arrives to speak at Walmart Friday morning.

The The Raise the Wage Mountain View Coalition plans to be at Walmart to "let President Obama know that we support his State of the Union call for cities to enact city-wide minimum wage measures, and to let him know that Mountain View and six other Northern California cities (Sunnyvale, Oakland, Davis, Eureka, Berkeley, and Richmond) are involved in city-wide minimum wage campaigns.," said an announcement from campaign organizer Dr. Meghan Fraley.

The president is scheduled to speak at 9:55 a.m. Friday morning at Walmart on Showers Drive, where Walmart's energy saving practices will get the spotlight in remarks about the importance of energy efficiency. Walmart boasts on its website: "From lighting and water conservation to refrigeration systems and building materials, we view our facilities as laboratories of sustainability."

The coalition is seeking to have voters or the Mountain View City Council approve a new Mountain View minimum wage that's significantly higher than California's $8 an hour.

They point to reports that San Jose's economy has grown and minimum wage jobs have increased since voters last year approved a minimum wage of $10 an hour. Mountain View City Council members have also expressed interest, and city staff members say they are tracking Sunnyvale's efforts to possibly coordinate a wage raise with the neighboring city. Fraley says the minimum wage coalition now includes several groups: Politically Inspired Action, OUR Walmart, Peninsula Peace and Justice Center, Fool's Mission, and Campus Alliance for Economic Justice.