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Breaking: New York State Approves Minimum Wage Increase


Late last week, it was announced that the Republican controlled Senate voted 61 - 1 to approve a budget that will gradually raise minimum wage rates in the state over the coming years.  

However, not all portions of the state will see a $15/hour wage rate.  Readers might remember my note a few weeks ago about how Oregon implemented a scaled wage for workers in the state.  New York is set to follow a similar pattern.  New York City workers will earn $15/hour within three years.  Employers in the City with less than 10 employees will have the new wage implemented over 4 years.  For those workers in upstate New York, the hourly wage will increase to $12.50 over 6 years.  

Those who have championed the "Fight for $15" movement in the state are unsurprisingly pleased with this recent development.  However, some have argued that all workers in the state should earn $15/hour.  However, as I had mentioned previously, I think that was an unlikely event given the fact that Democrats did not have control of the Legislature in the state.  For the time being, this is a huge victory, especially for Governor  Cuomo who has made minimum wage issues a center point during his tenure as Governor.  


For additional information:   http://pix11.com/2016/04/01/15-dollar-minimum-wage-deal-reached-in-new-york/

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