Yahoo – AFP,
23 July 2015
Low wage
workers, many in the fast-food industry, join with supporters in front
of a
McDonald's to demand a minimum wage of $15 an hour, on April 15,
2015 in New
York (AFP Photo/Spencer Platt)
|
New York
(AFP) - New York state was poised Wednesday to raise the minimum wage to $15 in
the fast-food sector, a key victory in a long-running workers campaign for
liveable wages.
A
three-person panel appointed by New York Governor Andrew Cuomo said the state's
current minimum wage of $8.75 an hour should be increased to $15, a raise of
more than 71 percent.
Cuomo had
indicated he would follow the panel's recommendation.
"What
a great, great day!" Cuomo, a Democrat, said at a news conference with the
leaders of the $15 campaign.
Governor
Andrew Cuomo speaks to labor
leaders, workers and activists at a rally for
a
$15 minimum hourly wage on July 22,
2015 in New York (AFP Photo/Spencer
Platt)
|
The federal
minimum wage is $7.25 an hour, but states and municipalities can set their own.
Some 29 states and Washington, DC, have minimum wages above the federal minimum.
"We're
getting $15 before every other state," said Eric Schneiderman, New York
attorney general.
"It's
a victory you have all built," he said, thanking the labor leaders and
Cuomo. "This is a victory for all men and women who work hard."
Activists
have been pushing for several years to get the $15 minimum wage in the fast-food
sector, notorious for low pay that workers say does not keep them out of
poverty.
Under
pressure from unions, McDonald's announced in April a pay hike for 90,000
employees in company-owned restaurants, though that does not affect the
majority of its restaurants, which are owned by franchisees.
From July 1
the starting wages for full and part-time workers in its own restaurants were
raised by one dollar above the local minimum wage.
The move
followed similar wage increases announced by Wal-Mart Stores, Gap and others,
all under pressure from labor and social groups over low pay.
Cuomo said
that New York state's $15 minimum wage decision would "radiate"
across the country.
"If
it's right in New York, it's right in California," he said.
In May, Los
Angeles, the second biggest US city, passed an increase in its minimum wage
from $9 to $15 an hour by 2020. That followed a similar move by Seattle one
year ago.
Other
states and communities have also passed, or are weighing increases to, statutory
minimum pay, after years in which inflation eroded the spending power of US
workers.
But only a
few have moved toward the $15 target that worker groups are calling for.
According
to US labor data, workers in the food preparation and serving-related
occupations comprise 22 percent of US employees who make at or below the
minimum wage. Workers such as waiters can earn less than the minimum wage if
they make up the gap in tips.
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