The Fight For $15 Garners Support

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In a press conference at the Jacob Javits Center, Laborers from Locals 66, 78, and 79 came out to support the approval to raise the minimum wage to $15 per hour for all workers. Vice President Biden joined Governor Cuomo to announce the approval, yet the pay hike still needs Legislative approval.

Mr. Cuomo said this minimum wage proposal, like the since-approved hike for fast food workers, would be phased in, but offered no other details. Albany decides the minimum wage for all localities, including the city. The state’s minimum wage is set to rise to $9 at the end of this year, the result of a phased in hike agreed upon several years ago.

Noting that a minimum wage hike would especially impact women (a large voting bloc in Democratic presidential primaries), Mr. Biden said he was on hand today to put the proposed hike in “context,” emphasizing his final goal as vice president is to help lift stagnant wages.

Raising the minimum wage for all sectors in the state to $15 an hour — with the exception of tipped workers — would need approval from the Legislature. While the Democratic-dominated Assembly supports the idea, the Republican-controlled Senate does not.