New York mayor Bill de Blasio signed an executive order requiring employers to pay workers as much as $13.13 an hour on economic-development projects that receive more than $1 million in city subsidies.
Mr de Blasio’s move modifies the city’s 2012 living wage law, a city council measure opposed by former mayor Michael Bloomberg. It expands coverage to 18,000 employees, or about 70 per cent of all the jobs at businesses that receive city economic-development financing.
For employees who don’t receive benefits, pay will rise by 9.5 per cent to $13.13 an hour. The current measure, which excludes many retailers, applies to about 1,200 workers. “To ask national retail chains to pay a decent wage to their workers while they’re receiving a subsidy from us is imminently fair,” Mr de Blasio said at a signing event in the Bronx, where he was joined by US secretary of labour Thomas Perez.
Rich and poor
Mr de Blasio (53) became the first Democrat elected to run New York in 20 years with a campaign that described a metropolis divided between rich and poor. Since taking office, he has pushed an agenda to construct or preserve 200,000 affordable-housing units, provide rent subsidies and universal, all-day pre-kindergarten.
In raising the living wage, he is answering a call from President Barack Obama on local governments to increase pay amid federal gridlock. For workers making the state’s minimum wage of $8 an hour, the executive order would increase their gross income to $27,310 from $16,640 a year, said the mayor’s office.
Certain city-backed housing developments with high levels of affordability and small businesses with gross income under $3 million are exempt from the order. Manufacturers are also excluded.
If Mr de Blasio succeeds in matching the minimum wage to the living wage, city projections show all hourly workers may earn $15.22 by 2019, according to the press release. – (Bloomberg)