NY Gov. Andrew Cuomo Signs Minimum Wage Increase; Hillary Clinton Joins Him at Rally

[mountaineer]

By JAKE PEARSON
Updated 2 hrs 23 mins ago
Assoc. Press via ABC7

NEW YORK --
Democratic Gov. Andrew Cuomo, invoking his late father's calls for economic justice, signed a law on Monday that will gradually raise New York's minimum wage to $15 an hour.

Accompanied on stage by Democratic presidential hopeful Hillary Clinton, Cuomo told a crowd of hundreds of cheering union workers after the bill signing that his father was "looking down on us today" and smiling.

"He is proud of the example that his state has set to the people of this country," he told a cheering crowd of maintenance, health care, transit, hotel and construction workers.

The elder Cuomo, a liberal Democrat and skilled orator, served three terms as New York's governor. He died on New Year's Day in 2015.

His son named the lobby effort to persuade lawmakers to pass the legislation after his father. The bill also establishes 12 weeks of paid family leave for workers.

The law gradually raises the minimum wage to $15 in New York City by the end of 2018 and in some prosperous suburbs by the end of 2021. But it will only rise to $12.50 in the rest of the state by 2020, with further increases tied to economic indicators. In all, about 2.3 million workers are expected to benefit from the increases.

Also Monday, California's governor signed a bill into law that will raise the statewide minimum wage to $15 an hour by 2022.

"It's about time," said Tommy Milton, who leads the 1,200-member Iron Workers' Local 580. "It's not easy living in this state. It's very expensive."

Clinton, who did not attend the bill signing, told the crowd it was time to "go all the way to Washington and raise the minimum wage for everybody."

But some workers at the Manhattan rally said they wished Clinton, who has backed federal legislation that would create a $12-per-hour minimum wage, would explicitly endorse the push for a nationwide $15 minimum wage.

"Don't just give us political rhetoric," said Earl Phillips, secretary treasurer of Transit Workers' Union Local 100.

Home care worker Mary Ellen Gibbs was less concerned, arguing Clinton could be convinced.

"We're serial activists," she said. "We know how to push to get what we want."

A crowd of the usual union paid agitators appeared at the rally, apparently unaware that they - the SEIU - are the most likely to see increasing unemployment, thanks to the higher wage.

[mountaineer]

In related SEIU news:

SEIU Bigwigs Ask Where the New Members Are
Posted on Apr 04, 2016 by LaborPains.org Team

Since 2012, the Service Employees International Union has been following an approach to stalling the decline of union membership in the private sector that centers on “fast food strikes” organized by public relations firms, worker centers, and proto-labor-unions called “worker organizing committees.” The basic idea? Phase one, make noise; Phase three, new union members.

The problem is phase two. Currently, SEIU leadership (including union president Mary Kay Henry) is satisfied to collect legislative wins, but the sheer rate of spending combined with real-world declines in union membership are leading some of Henry’s colleagues to start questioning how long the current plan can last.  ...

More at LaborPains.org

[Frank Cannon]

"It's about time," said Tommy Milton, who leads the 1,200-member Iron Workers' Local 580. "It's not easy living in this state. It's very expensive."

Right Tommy. You think it is expensive now, wait till the burger flippers are making $15 an hour and your union uses that to jack your rates even higher.

[mountaineer]

Looking forward to those $20 Big Macs!

[Bill Cipher]

Looking forward to those $20 Big Macs!

I'm looking forward to the same-priced Big Macs that I can order by myself using the same push button board the counter clerks use now.

The only problem with this idiocy is that it's going to put hundreds of thousands of people out of work and the next screaming and crying from liberals will be the demand for more taxes to increase the dole to pay government benefits to all of those people liberals put out of work in the first place.

[mountaineer]

The only problem with this idiocy is that it's going to put hundreds of thousands of people out of work and the next screaming and crying from liberals will be the demand for more taxes to increase the dole to pay government benefits to all of those people liberals put out of work in the first place.

Exactly. These largely uneducated SEIU workers formerly working in the custodial and food service industries will find themselves laid off, so they'll go on unemployment for years, receive all the other freebies the gubmint may offer - and we're all worse off.