What you should know

  • A deal to raise New York’s minimum wage will keep the state on the list of places with the highest base wages for low-wage workers
  • The hourly minimum wage would rise to $17 in New York and some of its suburbs and $16 in the rest of the state by 2026 under an agreement between Governor Kathy Hochul and legislative leaders. That’s up from the current rate of $15 in the city and $14.20 upstate.
  • That would still be less than workers will receive by 2028 in California, Washington and Hawaii.

NEW YORK — A deal to raise New York’s minimum wage would keep the state near the top of the list of places with the highest base wages for low-wage workers, but the amount of the increase disappoints some activists unions who expected a bigger increase.

The hourly minimum wage would rise to $17 in New York and some of its suburbs and $16 in the rest of the state by 2026 under an agreement between Governor Kathy Hochul and legislative leaders. That’s up from the current rate of $15 in the city and $14.20 upstate.

Future increases would then be tied to the consumer price index for urban wage and office workers, a measure of inflation.

Under the deal announced Thursday night, New Yorkers would be guaranteed an hourly wage well above the federal minimum of $7.25. They would still earn less than workers in California, Washington and Hawaii, who will most likely have a minimum wage of $18 or more by 2028, according to the National Employment Law Project.

Getting a raise counts as a win for the workers. It came despite objections from some employers who said companies struggling to control costs could be penalized by having to pay workers more.

The wage increase did not satisfy some Liberal Democrats who had argued that high inflation in recent years had made it harder than ever for workers to keep pace without a wage increase.

“We need to take the war on poverty more seriously. The true cost of living in New York, and especially in the five boroughs, simply cannot be sustained at $17 an hour,” said Senator Jessica Ramos, a Democrat from Queens who proposed raise the minimum wage above $20. “This agreement effectively codified a wage that keeps working families poor.”

Raise Up NY, a coalition of unions, lawmakers and advocacy groups, called the new deal a “weak compromise” in a statement, adding that it would provide little financial relief to workers.

Opponents of the wage increase also said they did not support the deal, saying it could hurt small businesses that have already been hit hard by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Wage increases could be particularly damaging to dairy farmers, forcing them to cut staff or hours, or shut down altogether, said Steve Ammerman, spokesman for New York Agricultural Bureau, a group representing farmers. He said inflation and increases in the minimum wage have already caused farms to close and the latest increase will make it harder for farms to stay in business.

Senior Republican in the State Assembly, William Barclay, said he fears a minimum wage increase could cause wage inflation in all occupations. To ease inflationary pressures, he said, the state could have suspended the gas tax, which was introduced last year, or reduced the sales tax on certain delivery products and household items.

The federal minimum wage in the United States has remained at $7.25 an hour since 2009, but states and some localities are free to set higher amounts. At least 30 states have chosen to do so.

Hochul’s original plan to raise the cost of living would have capped any annual wage increases at 3%, a protective measure intended to soften the blow of periods of high inflation. The governor’s office did not say on Friday whether a cap would be included in the final version of the state budget bill, which is expected to be approved by lawmakers in the coming days.

State Assembly Leader Carl Heastie confirmed the conceptual agreement in a statement late Thursday, but said state Assembly Democrats still need to discuss some issues.

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