NYT: Mayor de Blasio Urges New York Businesses to Raise Hourly Wages to Over $13

[Omaha Steve]

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/03/06/nyregion/mayor-de-blasio-appeals-to-businesses-to-raise-workers-pay.html?_r=0

By MATT FLEGENHEIMERMARCH 5, 2015

Facing resistance in Albany over his calls for a minimum wage exceeding $13 an hour in New York City, Mayor Bill de Blasio took his case directly to business leaders on Thursday, urging them to raise workers’ pay to that level voluntarily.

“I need you — we all need you — to take responsibility,” Mr. de Blasio said at a breakfast gathering in a luxury hotel ballroom beside Central Park, calling increased wages “the crucial need of our times.”

Speaking to the Association for a Better New York, a prominent civic group, the mayor cited businesses like Gap and Costco that have raised their employees’ pay above the national minimum. He also asked deep-pocketed investors and lenders in attendance to “put their money in companies that pay good wages.”

Mr. de Blasio’s remarks, at the Pierre, drew a smattering of restrained applause from a crowd that at times seemed disengaged, often leaving the clack of eating utensils as the room’s chief soundtrack.

FULL story at link.

[inanna]

1. K & R