Heath Ceramics is an artisan Bay Area ceramics manufacturer founded in 1948 by Edith and Brian Heath. When Robin Petravic and Katherine Bailey took the helm in 2003, they committed to upholding the company's ethos of designing simple, quality products and running a business that provides jobs in the community.
Last year we reached out to the team at Heath to learn more about their evolving worker equity practices. This brand new case study from ICA explores how Heath transformed its wages, benefits, and staffing structure to ensure a living wage for workers while keeping good manufacturing jobs in the Bay Area. We interviewed people from around the company to understand how this initiative came about, the change it made in workers' lives, and how the company was able to make a strong business case for increased worker wages.
Can good manufacturing jobs exist in the Bay Area?
The rising cost of living in the Bay Area has made it increasingly difficult for low-wage employees to survive. And while the cost of living is high, wages have stagnated, exacerbating already acute income disparities in the region. Under these circumstances, Heath's leadership felt that committing to provide a living wage for its employees would be one of the most impactful actions they could take toward building more equity and reversing systemic societal injustices.
Uncovering funds to create a real living wage
In 2020, Heath Ceramics launched the Living Wage Initiative (LWI) and increased its starting hourly wage from $16 to $20. The company committed to making annual living wage adjustments in tandem with increases in cost of living. To cover the increased costs associated with the LWI, the company restructured its 401(k) program—reallocating some of the money spent on its 401(k) matching program to offset the cost of the LWI and redistributing the rest of it on a more equitable basis.
Pay increases to close the racial wealth gap
The initiative's launch resulted in pay increases for about 50% of Heath's employees, mainly Latino and Asian workers earning less than $75,000 a year. Further, restructuring the 401(k) program has made it possible for all employees to save for retirement—regardless of their income—a significant step towards reducing the racial wealth gap.
A model for equitable growth
Heath is making the business case for creating good local jobs: this is a model designed to truly benefit employees though growing profit. Download the full case study for a close look at how the Living Wage Initiative was implemented and what the company learned along the way.
