On Wednesday, one of the streets in Manhattan was blocked off as workers, labor leaders and activists celebrated as they watched a state panel recommend their minimum wage increase to $15 by adding $6.25 to their hourly rate. "It's a victory! We have been fighting, and today we have made history. This will help me to take care of my kids, send them to the right school and put food on the table," said Alvin Major, a 49-year-old cook at a KFC in Brooklyn, according to NPR.
Gov. Andrew Cuomo appointed the wage board that proposed the wage hike, which will take effect over the next three years in New York City and over the next six years for the entire state.
"We will not stop until we reach true economic justice and we raise the minimum wage for every worker in every job in this state," said Gov Cuomo, reported NPR.
This decision will benefit about 180,000 employees as the fast-food industry is one of the biggest employers of low-wage workers. The same rate of minimum wage increase has taken place in other cities, including Los Angeles, San Francisco and Seattle. Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors agreed Tuesday to raise the county's minimum wage to $15 an hour by 2020, according to the New York Times.
But the move was not welcomed by all restaurant owners—some believe it to be a flawed process.
"Singling out fast-food restaurants while ignoring other industries that hire workers who are paid under $15 is unfair and discriminatory, harms New York workers, and puts some New York businesses—including mine and my fellow New York McDonald's franchisees—at a competitive disadvantage," said Jack Bert, who owns seven McDonald's restaurants in NYC, according to BBC News.
