Fast-food hourly pay to rise to $15 in NYC

Fast-food workers in New York would see a super-sized raise under a plan to phase in a $15 (€13.66) minimum wage — the first time a state has singled out a particular industry for such a rise.

It is a key victory in a long-running workers’ campaign for liveable wages.

A three-person panel appointed by governor of New York Andrew Cuomo said the current minimum wage of $8.75 an hour should be increased to $15, a raise of more than 71%.

The hike, approved by the state Wage Board, would rise gradually over three years in New York City and six years for the rest of the state. It would apply to staff at any fast-food restaurant with 30 or more locations, impacting about 200,000 workers.

“You cannot live and support a family on $18,000 a year in the state of New York — period,” governor Andrew Cuomo, a Democrat whose administration is expected to approve the increase, said at a Manhattan rally. “This is just the beginning. We will not stop until we reach true economic justice.”

San Francisco, Seattle, and Los Angeles have approved gradual increases to $15 an hour, and the huge University of California system said that it would raise its minimum to $15 for all hourly workers.

That group includes students and full-time employees working in dining halls, dorms, and bookstores or as gardeners, housekeepers, and custodians at campuses and hospitals.