Capping off a day of Fight for $15 walkouts and rallies across the state, Governor Cuomo announced on Tuesday night that his administration will gradually increase the minimum wage to $15 for all workers employed by ny State. “A lot of people out here are making minimum wage, and I really do think that $15 would really help not only me, but everyone else”.
Advertisement
“Across the country, people are saying that if you work full time you should not live in poverty, ” Miner said. “Yet millions of families nationwide continue to be left behind by an insufficient minimum wage”, he continued.
The Public Employees Federation commends Governor Cuomo for acting to increase the minimum wage for state workers in NY.
When fully phased in on July 1, 2021, the $15 an hour minimum wage increase would cost the state almost $21 million a year, including benefits, according to Cuomo’s office.
Though Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton has not come out in support of a federal $15 minimum wage, the former secretary of state tweeted her support of today’s protests.
Outside NY City, it will increase to $9.75 an hour at year’s end and increase by a dollar an hour until it hits $15.
Speaking to NY1 on Tuesday afternoon, de Blasio told reporters he “commends” Cuomo’s action.
Sen. John Flanagan said the administrative move was an “executive overreach”.
Protesters and activists carry signs and chant for higher wages in the parking lot at a McDonald’s in South Los Angeles.
The crowd outside the City County building contained people from a variety of positions, including fast food workers, children of minimum wage workers and various elected officials.
Dozens of protesters have gathered outside Faneuil Hall in an effort to increase wages for service industry workers.
Burger King said that it does not set wages or make other employment-related decisions for the franchisees who own and operate nearly all of its locations. For many of them, the prospect of $15 per hour three years down the road is a victory with asterisks. Speaking at a rally in Manhattan Tuesday, Cuomo said he expects other states to follow New York’s lead. “Low-wage jobs are the fastest growing jobs in the nation, and they need to pay more so that workers like us can make ends meet, and rebuild the middle class and get the economy working again”.
Advertisement
But while a few say $15 is a minimum needed to survive, a few business owners say dishing out more pay would leave them struggling to keep their doors open.
