State Sen. Jessica Ramos joined by immigrant groups and labor leaders at City Hall Park Thursday. They are calling for the minimum wage to be raised each year based on inflation (Photo: @ALIGNny)
April 28, 2022 By Christian Murray
A number of immigrant organizations and labor unions are getting behind a bill introduced by State Sen. Jessica Ramos earlier this year that aims to increase the minimum wage to $20.45 by 2025.
Several organizations held a rally this morning in City Hall Park with Ramos calling for the minimum wage to be hiked in line with inflation. They have formed a coalition called Raise Up New York to advocate for her bill, with its members including Make the Road NY, SEIU 32 BJ, ALIGN-NY among others.
The legislation calls for the minimum wage, which is currently at $15 an hour, to be raised each year in accordance to a formula based on the cost of living and workforce productivity. The legislation would apply to both large and small businesses.
The bill calls for the NYS Labor Commissioner to publish the minimum wage each year determined by the formula. The amount would be based on the 12-month period from July 1 to June 30 each year, with the increase going into effect Dec. 31.
The $15 minimum wage has been in place in New York City since 2018 and Ramos and the coalition say it’s time for a hike in line with the rising costs of groceries, gas, rent and overall inflation.
“New Yorkers need a raise, and they need it now,” Ramos said, who is the chair of the senate labor committee. “Pegging the minimum wage to inflation and productivity will put money back in working people’s pockets, in turn making us more resilient to fits and starts in the economy.”
A companion bill has been introduced in the state assembly by Assemblymember Latoya Joyner of the Bronx, who is the chair of the assembly labor committee.
“For many New York workers the minimum wage has been capped at $15 an hour since the end of 2018 and as prices have gone up with inflation the economic squeeze impacting working families has worsened,” Joyner said. “As a result, New York’s low-income workers need and deserve a minimum wage that protects against the ravages of inflation.”
Minimum wage increases have faced resistance in the past, with opponents saying that they hurt small businesses. Prior to the minimum wage being lifted in various upstate counties at the end of 2020, there were a number of Republicans who called to block it.
“We believe that any increase to the minimum wage would have far-reaching consequences for businesses barely staying afloat in the current state of this pandemic,” wrote a dozen senate Republicans to then Governor Andrew Cuomo. “The state must avoid inflicting additional economic hardship on businesses and causing many small and medium size businesses—especially family-owned restaurants to go out of business entirely—hurting business and workers alike.”
The minimum wage, however, was lifted in the upstate counties as planned.
Ramos’ legislation, however, appears to have the support of voters.
A survey conducted between March 30 and April 4 by Data for Progress found that 83 percent of New York City voters support pegging the minimum wage to inflation, with 12 percent in opposition. Across the state, 81 percent of the 801 respondents said they support it.
Low-paid workers also back the legislation, advocates say, noting that inflation is cutting into their wages.
For instance, Chiptole worker Ed Dealecio said he supports the bill
“Pay for people like me is not keeping up with rising costs,” Dealecio said. This new bill offers a minimum wage that makes sense. This would allow me to budget for food, housing, clothes and more, and not to worry if my wage next year will put me that much further behind.”
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As soon as wages go up everything else goes up like food shelter healthcare and utilities.
Inflation (7%) outpaced the growth in wages (4.7%) since last year. The average worker makes an adjusted 2% less as a result.
Remember, that’s what you’re supposed to blame Biden for? Don’t forget your narrative now and tell us that inflation is down!
With inflation the way it is why not make it worse..
Shouldn’t have anything that needs GASOLINE!!!
The taxpayers can pay for our parking and streets though
Parking should be free through right?
Don’t be upset when you no longer qualify for free government housing!!
What is better at this point? Raising minimum wage…. or fiscalizing the real estate market?
Their kind of affordable housing costs MORE than my mortgage, maintenance and utilities pooled together!!!
$20 x roughly 2,000 hours worked a year is only $40k, well under the $66k cap for a single family home in NYC public housing
It’s almost like you don’t really care and you’re just arguing in bad faith because this legislation hurts your feelings!
thats the whole idea. empty the buildings and convert them to condos.
Many work off the books so it does not matter.
Not true. Minimum weekly monthly and yearly income eligibility always increases as hourly wage goes up. I know so many people on snap and medicaid that make above the hourly rate. Also rent vouchers are 1900 per month for a single person. My neighbor would of never got that much with his old apartments. This has changed the demographic in many communities.
Just more incentive for businesses to automate.
If you want to get paid more money, acquire some marketable skills.
The fast food industry can’t support high school drop-outs and Liberal Arts degree graduates forever.
Yes, businesses aren’t looking to automate and cut labor expenses. This raise will change all that.
sure it can. just triple the menu prices and increase the tips to start at 100%. most restaurants now make you choose between 20, 25 and 30%. or just create some other nonsense for customers to pay additionally. fee this fee that. everyone loves paying fees!
-Paradise- Living wages have been implemented throughout the world and absolutely none of the countries that implemented them needed to triple menu prices or increase any other fees. You’re being ridiculous. The best and most robust economies in the world pay nothing less then living wages. Fact! Look it up!
According to Jessica Ramos it can.
Harsh, but true. Drop outs made their decision to quit school and so did college kids who chose their major. You can put some of the blame colleges/guidance counselors and such for the latter as colleges tend to teach activism than skills to make you productive. But in the end, these are big boys and girls who choose their own decisions. You can’t expect the government to take care of you all the time. But this is the theme behind liberal thinking, especially progressives. Vote for them so your feelings don’t get hurt when someone makes more than you, drives a better car than you, lives in a better home/neighborhood than you, their kids are more successful and don’t commit crimes… the list goes on. They want every want to think they are entitled to everything in the world without necessarily working for it.
-SMH, What elitism. Talk about kicking people when they’re down. It obviously makes you feel better about yourself, when you can convince yourself you’re the one who has made all the right decisions and everyone else is stupid and inferior to you and made the wrong decisions. Do you consider all poor peoples kids criminals or just the ones who like government?
Lol. Do not twist my words and make if fit into your cute little narrative. No one in the world has made all the right decisions, but as long as you learn from your mistakes and keep trying, its all that matters. My ire is against people who don’t try and expect a handout and those, like you who enable them. Its those people who don’t try that constantly put the pressure on good people to work more either at home or at work. The same people who don’t want to work hard and depend on handouts force us to work more more hours so our tax dollars can help subsidize their rents and government handouts. Its their kids who don’t want to learn that make good parents work more so they don’t turn out like these kids who have criminal records before hitting high school. Do I find people who choose burger flipping as a career choice stupid? Yes, I do. No parent should ever tell their kids to aim low and stay low because the government will always take care of you and not worry about having their feelings hurt because the business man, the accountant, the nurse, the engineer makes more than you. But that’s what you and the progressives want. You want kids to focus on CRT and other useless subjects instead of math, reading and science. Why aren’t progressives and liberals pushing for more trade schools so kids who aren’t academically inclined can have a chance of living a good honest life. Electricians and mechanics make a good living. You want this imaginary world where everyone makes the same amount of money and live side by side in houses that look the same and ride bikes everywhere.
Nobody said anything about wanting a world where everyone makes the same and live in side by side houses and ride bikes. Please take a remedial reading class. Even your brainwashed brain couldn’t imagine unwritten text, that would be delusional. My post is about people having a constitutional right to access their government without being insulted and without having to settle for a less than competent government just like corporations do. It’s sound business when corporations do it and just as sound when individual American citizens do it.
People are right to expect help and a competent government and certainly should not be ashamed demanding it.,Corporations are commended when they do it. Please explain that Smh.
If you want to get paid more money, acquire some marketable skills = student loan, debt…
Maybe you have a better way to learn marketable skills to avoid bad jobs, please share it.
People ARE poor because they choose to be. It’s called life decisions. Not working hard, not going to school, not saving or investing instead of wasting it on superfluous material goods, etc leads to being poor.
Are you afraid of hard work? You must be a millennial. How did generations before you succeed? How did entrepreneurs with no college education succeed? Stop depending on handouts and stop complaining and maybe you can succeed.
Smh- Another weak minded rant of Republican propaganda and buzz words.According to you someone deserves a lifetime of poverty and misery for choosing “the wrong” major in college or for dropping out of high school. Nobody is “expecting” the government to “take care of them”. They want their government to work for them just like corporations get government to work for their best interest and people of my generation and the ones before it did. To quote Mitt Romney, “corporations are people too my friend”. At the same time “government for the people by the people”should not be working against the American people with legislation Creating and expanding foreign work visa programs and RTW legislation. Your ridiculous comment about voting feelings boarders the absurd and a waste of my time. Your statement “ their kids are more successful and don’t commit crimes..”is twisted and really needs explaining. You’re constantly blaming “liberals” well this conservative is blaming you and other easily manipulated and gullible conservatives who have been tricked into voting against their own an their countries best interest.Your assumption of me being a Millennial is just further evidence of an uninformed easily influenced gullible mentality. I have 3 grand children who are successful educated and professional millennials
three things you are obviously not.
Did I hurt your feelings? You want a tissue? Don’t assume – says the guy who thinks all conservatives are “Trumpers.” Elitist – says the guy who told an Asian poster he did not know anything about race relations. Someone as old as you (or do you not identify as old?) and you use third grade language to put down Boondy. Hypocrite.
Sir or whatever gender or pronoun you want to be classified as, you are no conservative. You are nothing more than a white liberal.
“The white liberal…. the most dangerous person to a black man.” – Thomas Sowell.
I answered your little diatribe already even before you wasted your time typing your rant.
Exactly, systemic poverty doesn’t exist! How could being poor make it harder to get rich?!
I’m glad you don’t accept handouts, you didn’t accept Trump’s stimulus check right? I’m glad you’re critical of him for handing out free money.
Yes, because no amount of automation can fix receiving a McRib with the bottom of the half of the bun missing.