"The current minimum wage in the state of New York… in our opinion does not afford one the ability to live a decent life," New York Governor Andrew Cuomo told CBS New York. "You can't raise a family on $18,000 a year in the state of New York. So we want to raise the minimum wage, which in and of itself would affect 2.3 million workers."
The bicoastal moves are largely the result of nationwide grassroots activism, and these massive victories for the Fight for $15 campaign will boost the pay of approximately 5 million workers, Democracy Now! co-host Juan Gonzalez reported on Friday.
“It's remarkable that only about three years ago this movement started with a single strike of a bunch of McDonald's workers in New York City, and it has spread across the country,” Gonzalez stated. “And it's going to continue to spread, because there's too many Americans who cannot live on the federal minimum wage or on some higher state minimum wages in some areas. So this is a remarkable movement that's also going to boost the economy, because all of these low-wage workers are going to immediately spend that money.”
Campaigners with Fight for $15 hope that these victories will soon be repeated in more states.
