According to a report released Wednesday by the National Employment Law Project (NELP), nearly 17 million low-paid workers have seen wage increases since November of 2012. The increases are a combination of states and cities raising minimum wage levels, executive orders and individual companies raising pay scales.
The most recent wins in California, New York and Pennsylvania will lead to phased increases to $15 an hour in those states. Those wins appear to have re-energized campaigns to seek raises to the minimum wage in other states and industries. On Thursday, more than 300 strikes and protests are expected to take place across the United States in support of a $15-an-hour minimum wage and union rights for workers.
Demonstrators will focus on McDonald’s Corp. (NYSE: MCD), and organizers expect thousands of marchers to parade from a McDonald’s store in Times Square to a $1,000-a-plate Republican-party fundraiser.
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According to NELP, the $15-an-hour wage will affect some 5.65 million California workers when it is fully phased-in in 2022 and 2023. Another 3.1 million workers in New York also have gained the $15 benchmark, with a fully phased-in date of 2019 to 2020 in New York City and by 2023 in other areas of the state.
Several universities, medical centers and other businesses have either raised minimum pay to $15 an hour or are set to do so over the next couple of years. Some raises were set by company policy and others were the result of collective bargaining. The largest number of workers affected by an increase at a publicly traded company appears to be at Aetna Inc. (NYSE: AET), where 15,700 saw a raise to $15 last year. Some 33,000 home health care workers in Washington state will see a pay hike to $15.40 by next year.
Strikes at McDonald’s stores are also scheduled Thursday for Miami, Boston, St. Louis, Kansas City, Oakland and Los Angeles. Rallies and marches are also on tap for Chicago and other cities.
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