Tag Archives for " minimum wage "

New York airport workers poised to get $19 minimum wage

  • March 22, 2018

New York airport workers poised to get $19 minimum wage by 2023 

POLITICO and the New York Times are reporting local officials today recommended raising hourly wages to a $19 minimum wage at three metro-New York airports.

The staff of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey recommended phasing in higher wages for workers at John F. Kennedy, LaGuardia and Newark airports by 2023. The board is expected to approve the recommendation in June — a move that would give workers in New Jersey a raise of more than 80 percent, according to the New York Times.

The staff of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which oversees the airports, recommended on Thursday that the agency raise the minimum wage for more than 40,000 airport workers to $19 an hour by the fall of 2023. That would amount to an increase of more than 80 percent in about five years for the lowest-paid workers at Newark Liberty International Airport, one of the three major airports operated by the Port Authority.

The wage increase would affect more than 40,000 wheelchair attendants, baggage handlers and airplane cleaners, according to SEIU.

“New York and New Jersey airport workers have led the way and shown that when we work together in unity, we can win,” Héctor Figueroa, the president of SEIU 32BJ, said in a statement.

Minnesota county court rules in favor of $15 minimum wage

  • February 28, 2018

Minnesota county court rules in favor of $15 minimum wage

A Minnesota county district court ruled in favor of a Minneapolis city ordinance raising the minimum wage in a decision posted Tuesday

The ordinance, passed in June, raised the hourly minimum in Minneapolis to $10 starting in January. Wages will then increase each July until they reach $15, with large businesses given until 2022 and small businesses until 2024 to meet the mark.

“The Minnesota Fair Labor Standard Act, the state minimum wage law, sets a floor for minimum wages, leaving room for municipalities to pass minimum wage ordinances to meet the needs of their communities,” Hennepin County Court wrote in its decision. “For these reasons, the court finds that the Minneapolis Minimum Wage Ordinance is not in conflict with or preempted by state law.”

Workers’ advocate groups praised the ruling.

“This is a big win for Minneapolis’ working families,” said Laura Huizar, a staff attorney with the National Employment Law Project. “It means the city remains on track to raise wages for one in five Minneapolis workers.”

Minimum wage for federal contractors to rise in January 2018

  • September 14, 2017

From Politico, the hourly minimum wage for federal contractors will increase to $10.35 in January 2018, up from the current $10.20, according to a notice in the Federal Register.

In addition, the tipped minimum wage will increase to $7.25 an hour, up from the current $6.80.

The wage hikes are in response to a 2014 executive order from President Barack Obama that raised the hourly minimum to $10.10 and the tipped minimum to $4.90 for workers “performing work on or in connection with covered Federal contracts,” beginning in January 2015.