Photo via New York Times
#FightForFifteen advocates have prevailed in New York and California as the states announce legislative deals to establish a $15 dollars per hour minimum wage. Hector Figueroa, president 32BJ Service Employees International Union in New York, released a statement explaining the positive impacts of the April 1 announcement: “This historic announcement of the largest increase in the minimum wage in generations will open the door to economic justice for millions of families and improve our economy from the bottom up.” However, the deals come with some conditions and nuances.
The New York State legislation lacks uniformity in application to certain geographic regions and industries in the state. For ex-ample, employers in NYC must pay their employees $15 an hour by 2018, but businesses with ten or fewer workers will have until 2021 to implement the new regulations, according to Reuters. In less prosperous areas of the state, the wage rises to $12.50 per hour before a state review of the law’s impact.
According to the Huffington Post, areas such as Long Island and Westchester will have six years to implement the $15 wage. While many are thankful that they will have a more sustain-able lifestyle thanks to the bump in pay, some argue that this has devastating implications for small businesses.
Joseph Sferrazza, owner of La Bella Ferrera bakery in the city, is worried that his business cannot afford the new wage. He states, “You can only charge so much for a cookie.”
Some Republican lawmakers in NY are echoing Sferrazza’s concern by arguing the new wage could have negative economic impacts like increasing inflation in the future, but NYS Governor Andrew Cuomo reassured their fears by stating, “We’re leaders in economic justice,” and must pro-vide a livable wage for New Yorkers, according to The New York Times.
Similarly, California Governor Jerry Brown signed the state’s $15 minimum wage law, Senate Bill 3, on Monday, April 4. Under California’s statute, the wage will in-crease to fifteen dollars over the next six years. For Californian businesses with fewer than 26 employees, compliance with the law would need to be met by 2023.Those fighting for an increase in other states, and a federal mini-mum wage, view NY and CA’s successes as momentum builders for the movement. However, it remains to be seen whether states will have to pass minimum wage laws on their own or if the federal Congress will mandate a nation-wide minimum wage.