On Tuesday, February 23, 2016, the Birmingham City Council passed an ordinance implementing a minimum wage of $10.10 per hour for jobs within the Birmingham city limits. The Council voted last year to raise the minimum wage to $8.50 per hour effective July 2016 and $10.10 per hour effective July 2017, but decided in recent weeks to expedite the rate increases. Birmingham is the first city in Alabama to set its own minimum wage.

The Birmingham City Council's action to speed up minimum wage rate increases comes amidst efforts at the state level to prevent Birmingham and other cities from implementing local minimum wage rates. The Alabama Senate is expected to soon consider a bill that would prohibit cities from setting individual, patchwork minimum wage rules. The Uniform Minimum Wage and Right-to-Work Act, which was introduced just last week by Rep. David Faulkner, RMountain Brook, quickly gained support and passed by a 71-31 vote in the House.