Cuomo to Raise Minimum Wage to $15 for All New York State Employees
ALBANY — Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo announced on Tuesday that he would unilaterally establish a $15 minimum wage for all state workers, making New York the first state to set such a high wage for its public employees.
The increase will place the pay of New York’s state employees far ahead of the current minimum wage in other states, and positions Mr. Cuomo at the vanguard of a national movement to address stagnant pay for millions of American workers.
Using executive authority, Mr. Cuomo, a Democrat, would gradually increase the hourly rate: State workers in New York City would earn $15 an hour by the end of 2018; state workers outside of the city would also see wages rise, though more slowly, with rates climbing to $15 by the end of 2021. All told, some 10,000 workers — about 6.5 percent of the state’s permanent and seasonal work force — would see an increase in pay, according to the governor’s office, with the vast majority of those living upstate or outside the city.
The governor’s action came on a day when fast-food workers across the country staged strikes seeking a uniform $15 hourly wage, a movement that he has championed in New York as a growing number of cities have acted to raise wages.
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/11/11/nyregion/andrew-cuomo-and-15-minimum-wage-new-york-state-workers.html
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