Cuomo says he’ll raise minimum wage to $15 for state workers

Now, the governor supports a $15-an-hour minimum wage for all workers.

In July, a state wage board appointed by Cuomo increased the minimum wage for chain fast-food workers to $15 by 2021.

The increase applies to state workers and will come into effect gradually.

Hundreds of people rallied in NY, Washington and Chicago as part of the union-backed Fight for US$15 campaign.

Danny Donohue, president of CSEA, a leading public sector union, praised Cuomo and said the pay boost will have a “positive practical impact and will be good for New York’s economy as a whole”. “Yet millions of families nationwide continue to be left behind by an insufficient minimum wage – and it’s time that changed”, Cuomo said in a prepared statement.

Alongside minimum wage workers, Sargent arrived before the rally, speaking with various individuals also waiting for the event to start before marching with the protestors.

“We have to work really aggressively to reduce the tax and regulatory burden that’s placed on the very people we want to create jobs”, said Palmesano.

Despite the wet weather, about 100 people showed up at city hall demanding an increase of the minimum wage. During a news conference call today, Brown was joined by Artheta Peters, a home health care worker from Cleveland who earns less than $9 per hour without benefits or paid leave.

“If I thought (raising the) minimum wage would be the best way to help increase their pay, I would be all for it but it isn’t”, he said. For many of them, the prospect of $15 per hour three years down the road is a victory with asterisks.

“Although the $15 doesn’t affect me directly, it does affect me because when you see your brothers and your sisters going through the struggle, it’s like you are going through the struggle also”, he said.

Earlier this year, Cuomo took unilateral action to institute a $15 for fast-food workers. The commission allows for industry specific minimum wages, but to get the statewideincrease, Cuomo will need approval by the state legislature.

Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders was one of the politicians who stood with the protesters in Washington, calling on Congress to “finish the job” by raising the minimum wage to $15.