Last updated on September 14th, 2015 at 02:43 pm
New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, joined by U.S. VP Joe Biden, rallied Sept. 10 for fair pay for New York’s workers and announced a push to make New York the first state in the nation to adopt a $15 per hour minimum wage.
This announcement came on the same day that New York Acting State Labor Commissioner Mario Musolino signed an order designating a $15 per hour statewide minimum wage for fast food workers—the level recommended by a state department of labor wage board earlier this summer. The governor’s proposed all-industry minimum wage increase should be phased in to mirror the fast food wage order, taking full effect by Dec. 31, 2018, in New York City and July 1, 2021, for the rest of New York State.
In the coming months, the governor’s administration, with elected officials, business leaders and community members, will bring the push for a $15 minimum wage across the state to build support for a bill to be introduced in the next legislative session.
Cuomo has consistently fought to increase the minimum wage in New York State. In 2013, he signed legislation that raised the minimum wage from $7.25 to its current level of $8.75. That legislation included another incremental increase to $9 that will take effect by the end of 2015. Additionally, the State Department of Labor empaneled a wage board last July, which led to an increase in wages for tipped workers from $4.90, $5 and $5.65 to $7.50 per hour on Dec. 31, 2015.
