New York City Comptroller Scott Stringer has been urging the city’s lawmakers to raise the minimum wage to $13.13 per hour. This rise would increase the income of nearly 1.2 million NYC residents by an average of $100 per week.
“New York City deserves the ability to set its own minimum wage,” Comptroller Stringer said in a press release.
As of now, New York’s minimum wage is $8 per hour. New York State Legislation has passed which will rise the minimum wage to $8.75 in 2015 and $9.00 per hour in 2016.
However, these small increases in such small increments are not enough to make an impact on the lives of low paid workers living in New York City.
When compared to other major cities with high living cost, NYC has the lowest minimum wage. In San Francisco’s it is $10.74 and Washington D.C.’s will rise to $11.50 by 2016. As of this month, Seattle has the nation’s highest minimum wage of $15.00 per hour. Seattle City Council unanimously approved the minimum wage increase as a response to the high poverty levels in the city.
“We are falling behind other states and cities when it comes to the minimum wage, despite the fact that this is the most expensive city in which to live in the nation,” Comptroller Springer said. “There is no one size fits all when it comes to the minimum wage; raising it to $13.13 would make an enormous difference for more than one million New York City residents.”
New York City officials are also cracking down on contract workers at LaGuardia, Kennedy and Newark airports. Contract employees making $9 an hour or less at the region’s three major airports will receive $1 more an hour starting July 31.
