New York’s Fight for $15 carries on. Earlier this month, the State Legislature passed a budget that included a phased-in boost in the state’s minimum wage. Downstate, the wage will increase to $15 an hour by 2021. But in Upstate, the wage will reach $12.50 an hour by 2021, and then will increase to $15 […]
Fight for $15
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Advocates to push for $15 minimum wage
Local clergy members and representatives from soup kitchens, food pantries, and programs for the homeless will hold a press conference on Tuesday in support of a $15 minimum wage. Governor Andrew Cuomo proposed a $15 minimum, which would be gradually phased in over five years, in his 2016-17 state budget. Lawmakers are negotiating the budget, […]
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Cuomo restarts the fight for $15
Governor Andrew Cuomo will set the tone for this year’s legislative session in Albany when he gives his combined State of the State and budget address on Wednesday, January 13. At the top of his list: a true, statewide, cross-industry $15 an hour minimum wage. Approximately 2.4 million New Yorkers — a quarter of the […]
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Why winning the Fight for $15 is essential
The argument that a substantial increase in the minimum wage is a “job killer” has no basis in fact.
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State board recommends $15-an-hour minimum for fast-food workers
A state wage board has recommended that the minimum wage for some fast-food workers increase to $15 an hour, eventually. The board, which was convened by Governor Andrew Cuomo, approved a package of resolutions this afternoon calling for the wage increase. The state labor department commissioner will ultimately decide whether to order a higher minimum […]
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Ad against wage increase is dehumanizing
New York labor officials are in the middle of a process that’ll probably lead to a higher minimum wage for fast food workers. As they’ve taken public comment over the last few weeks, supporters and opponents of a wage increase have been publicly and aggressively making their cases. New York’s minimum wage is currently $8.75 […]
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State board will examine fast food wages
The state’s labor commissioner will convene a wage board to look into the pay in New York’s fast food industry. Governor Andrew Cuomo announced the plan yesterday in a New York Times editorial. The State Labor Department has the power to convene wage boards to recommend minimum wages for specific industries, as long as an […]
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Group wary of McDonald’s benefits plan
For a long time, McDonald’s has been synonymous with minimum-wage work. That doesn’t mean that every worker at every McDonald’s makes minimum wage, but a lot of them do, particularly starting employees. McDonald’s corporate office apparently wants to get away from that image. Yesterday, it announced it’s going to give workers starting pay that’s $1 […]
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Wage wars
Donating food to a food cupboard is obviously a good thing, says longtime community organizer Alison Clarke, but it doesn’t do anything to address the root causes of poverty and hunger. “People want to do things for people who are poor,” Clarke says, “but they don’t really understand the depth of the issues, where the […]
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Fast food fight for $15
As a manager in training at the Irondequoit Wendy’s, Kim Ramos makes $8 an hour, which is New York’s minimum wage. When she advances to manager, she’ll make around $9 or $10 an hour. But even then she says she’ll struggle to make ends meet. Ramos lives with her girlfriend, who has two children and […]
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Local fast food workers strike for better wages
This morning, workers at some Rochester-area fast food restaurants went on strike. They’ll join fast food workers in cities across the country as part of the Fight for $15 campaign. The workers say they want employers like McDonald’s, Burger King, and Wendy’s to commit to a $15 an hour wage for store employees and the […]
