Seattle set to approve $15 minimum wage in 'historic victory' for workers more

Source: The Guardian

Seattle set to approve $15 minimum wage in 'historic victory' for workers
• Plan would more than double federal minimum wage
• Move will benefit 100,000 working people in Seattle


Seattle council is expected to raise the city’s minimum wage to $15 an hour on Monday, the highest in the US. The move will benefit about one quarter of the city’s workforce, particularly women and minorities, as it lifts the lowest paid to more than double the federal minimum wage over the coming years.

It is also likely to boost local campaigns across the US, from San Francisco and Chicago to New York state, to raise the incomes of minimum wage workers after Republicans in Congress blocked President Obama’s proposal for a national increase.

But Seattle’s law will be closely watched for its economic impact and for threatened legal action by local franchises of fast-food corporations, such as McDonald’s and Subway, some of the largest employers of low-paid workers in the city, seeking to be classified as small businesses in order to win more years to implement the increases.



Read more: http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/jun/02/seattle-plan-minimum-wage-hike-workers