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 The increase, which expands an existing program to cover more New
Yorkers, applies to workers employed by large businesses that are
tenants of buildings developed with the help of more than $1 million
in city subsidies.
The move comes as cities across the United States push ahead with
so-called living wage initiatives to raise wages for workers at the
bottom of the pay scale.
"The rules change today," de Blasio said from a playground in the
Bronx, one of the city's five boroughs, with a large working-class
population. "People are struggling, and we need to act now."
The order is expected to apply to an estimated 18,000 employees,
including many restaurant and retail workers, over the next five
years. Previously, it largely excluded retail employees and applied
to some 1,200 workers.
The executive order also raises the minimum hourly rate set in the
act to $13.13 an hour from $11.90 an hour for people who receive no
health insurance and other benefits from their employers. For those
who do receive benefits, the minimum wage rises to $11.50 an hour
from $10.30.
De Blasio said he intends to increase the minimum hourly rate to
$15.22 by 2019.
The rate increase will have some exclusions, including small
businesses with gross income less than $3 million annually.
Critics of the measure say that the mandatory minimum will
discourage businesses from leasing spaces in city-backed buildings.
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“Some prospective commercial tenants will resist leasing space in
projects that impose wage and compliance requirements that are more
onerous than market practice," said Kathryn Wylde, president and
chief executive officer of the Partnership for New York City. The
organization represents 200 large companies that employ around
775,000 New Yorkers.
De Blasio plans to lobby state lawmakers for the authority to
increase the $8-an-hour state minimum wage on a citywide level.
De Blasio signed Tuesday's order with the support of U.S. Secretary
of Labor Thomas Perez, who has been working to promote President
Barack Obama's proposal to boost the federal minimum wage to an
hourly rate of $10.10 from $7.25.
(Reporting by Laila Kearney; Editing by Eric Beech)
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