$15 per hour minimum wage in Westchester

The latest programmed step in the process of incrementally increasing minimum wages in New York state over a five-year period takes place tomorrow. The minimum wage in Westchester and Long Island rises to $15 per hour on Dec. 31, matching the $15 minimum in New York City.

In the rest of the state, the minimum wage rises to $13.20 per hour. Rates for tipped workers vary by region and factors such as the amount of tips received and benefits offered by employers are used in calculating what workers must be paid.

Former Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo had been an early backer of the push for increases in the state”™s minimum wages. Back in December 2015, the Business Journal reported that Cuomo and then-Vice President Joseph Biden appeared at a wage rally held at the Javits Center in New York City.

Biden and Cuomo at Javitz Center in 2015. — Biden and Cuomo at Javits Center in 2015.

“Today we”™re putting our steps together to form a march toward economic justice,” Cuomo said at the time. “Raising the minimum wage to $15 an hour will bring fairness to 2.2 million working New Yorkers. Fifteen dollars an hour will be the highest statewide rate in the nation and will herald a new economic contract with America, and it”™s about time.”

John Santos, the Hudson Valley district director and vice president of 32BJ Service Employees International Union, said at the time that an increase like the one proposed by Cuomo could make a big difference for its members.

“The bottom line is the more money you make the more money you spend,” Santos said, adding a wage increase can be “the difference between paying some … bills or saving a few extra dollars” when there is a little extra money to go around.

The Retail Council of New York State took a middle-of-the-road approach to the proposed increase.

“Retailers are concerned about the effect of a $15-an-hour threshold on the industry”™s ability to create and provide jobs,” council officials said. “We see value in the governor”™s proposal and look forward to continuing our dialogue with him on this issue.”

The statewide $15 minimum wage plan was enacted as part of the 2016-17 State Budget. The first in the series of step-by-step wage increases went into effect on Dec. 31, 2016.