A new mandate would eventually raise minimum wage by 70% for certain workers.
Fast food workers in New York City are now going to make $15 a hour. After a three year labor protest, the workers will start to see an increase in wages starting by December 31st, and then raising in increments over the next few years.
The New York Times reports that Governor Andrew Cuomo appointed a panel to decide if the wages should be raised. The $15 amount would be a raise of 70% for workers ho currently make the minimum wage of $8.75. Advocates for the “99%” hope that the decision will spur minimum wages raises across the country.
Bill Lipton, state director of the Working Families Party, said, “There’s clearly a new standard for minimum wage, and it’s actually a living wage for the first time in many, many decades.” The mandate to raise minimum wages only applies to restaurants with at least 30 outlets and provides counter order services.. This may apply to as many as 180,000 employees.
The mandate must be signed by the acting labor commissioner Mario Musolino. Once it’s applied, minimum wage advocates hope it will trickle down to other states.
“When New York acts, the rest of the states follow,” Cuomo said. “We’ve always been fast, always been different, always been the most progressive.”
