OAKLAND — On the day 27 protesters were arrested on International Boulevard at 98th Avenue for their part in a national “Fight for $15” demonstration seeking higher wages, Oakland announced that as of Jan. 1, the minimum wage in the city will rise to $12.86 per hour, a 31-cent increase.

Employers who fail to do so face fines of $1,000 per violation.

The 27 protesters arrested Nov. 29 on International were quickly released after being charged with obstructing the street. Thousands of people joined in protests up and down the state and across the country at airports, fast-food restaurants and on the streets in an effort organized by labor leaders.

There were dozens more arrests reported in Detroit, New York, Los Angeles and Cambridge, Massachusetts.

The minimum wage set by the U.S. government is currently $7.25 per hour. In San Francisco and Emeryville, it is $13 an hour, and more in Emeryville for businesses defined as large: $14.82. In California as a whole, the minimum wage is $10.

Oakland is hosting informational meetings at City Hall and offering businesses posters they are required to display informing staff of the wage as well as referrals to technical and legal support services.

The posters are available in English, Chinese, Spanish and Vietnamese and can be found at oaklandnet.com/minimumwage. City Hall informational meetings will be held in Cantonese and Mandarin on Dec. 14 and in Spanish on Dec. 19. Both will be conducted in Hearing Room 1 from 10 to 11:30 a.m.

The city will also notify all registered businesses of the change in pay rate via mail.

Oakland voters approved Measure FF in November 2014, boosting the minimum wage in the city from the state-mandated $9 an hour.

The increase went into effect in March 2015, jumping 36 percent to $12.25 per hour. At the beginning of this year, it went up to the current $12.55.

As of Oct. 20, the city’s Contracts and Compliance office has received 59 complaints of violations of the measure, which also requires up to five days of sick leave annually. Twelve of the 30 resolved complaints were deemed unfounded, and 19 others remain open.

Measure FF was approved with almost 82 percent support. It ties the minimum wage to the local consumer price index, which went up 2.5 percent in the fiscal year that ended in August for urban wage earners and clerical workers in the San Francisco-Oakland-San Jose area, according to the federal Bureau of Labor Department statistics.

The state Employment Development Department says that Oakland’s unemployment rate has dropped from 6.1 percent at the time Measure FF took effect to 5.4 percent last month, with 9,000 Oakland residents added to payrolls.

Contact Mark Hedin at 510 293-2452, 408 759-2132 or mhedin@bayareanewsgroup.com.