17 results for tag: $15 minimum wage

Joe Biden wants a $15 minimum wage – will the coronavirus pandemic make that more likely?

By Elisabeth Buchwald July 25, 2020 A $15-an-hour federal minimum wage has long been on many Democratic lawmakers’ wish lists. They could have the chance to cross that goal off their lists come November with former Vice President Joe Biden ahead of President Donald Trump in several recent polls. Even before the pandemic, in Biden’s first official campaign speech, he promised to raise the federal minimum wage to $15 an hour if elected president. The federal minimum wage has been $7.25 an hour since 2009, which comes out to roughly $15,000 a year for someone working 40 hours a week. The conversation around increasing the minimum wage has ...

Coronavirus: Alameda on track to boost minimum wage

By Peter Geharty April 22, 2020 The coronavirus may have closed businesses and left owners and workers feeling uneasy about their future, but those working in this city on minimum wage are still on track to get a raise. The minimum wage in Alameda, now $13.50 an hour, will jump to $15 an hour starting in July, despite the pandemic. The City Council decided unanimously Tuesday to go ahead with the raise, initially approved in October 2018. Under state law, businesses with at least 26 employees must pay at least $15 an hour starting Jan. 1, 2022. But officials in some cities, such as Alameda, wanted the increase to happen sooner, especi...

Advocates want Northam to expand minimum wage bill, others say recession demands delay

By Ned Oliver April 1, 2020 Gov. Ralph Northam is facing dueling pressure campaigns to amend marquee legislation passed by the General Assembly last month raising the minimum wage to $12 an hour over three years. On one side, farmworkers are pushing for Northam to strike language allowing agricultural operations to continue to pay them $7.25 an hour, an exemption they say is rooted in Jim Crow-era racial animus. On the other side, business groups, Republican leaders and the Virginia Municipal League, which represents all 38 cities in the state, are asking Northam to delay the legislation altogether, arguing the sudden economic downturn ...

Target announces pay raises, bonuses and new paid leave policy amid coronavirus

By Brooke Spiel March 20, 2020 Target announced Friday that it would give employees a $2-per-hour pay raise, rolling out new benefits and bonuses as its staffers work to keep shelves stocked during the coronavirus pandemic. In a press release, the company said it would give the raise to staff until at least May 2, making its new minimum wage $15 per hour. Target also said 20,000 hourly workers who manage individual departments within stores would be given bonuses between $250 and $1,500. Target follows companies such as Amazon and Walmart, which have increased wages or given bonuses in recent days, as retail firms face a surge in shoppers ...

Elizabeth Warren unveils farmworkers’ rights plan

By Melissa Gomez March 2, 2020 Sen. Elizabeth Warren unveiled a plan for farmworker and food chain employee rights Monday that would bolster federal safety protections and workers’ access to basic rights. The Massachusetts senator’s proposal comes the day before Super Tuesday, when voters cast ballots in 14 states including California, home to about a third of the nation’s farmworkers, many of whom are in the country illegally. Warren also plans to appear Monday in East Los Angeles, where she is expected to speak about the Justice for Janitors movement. “For decades, agricultural labor has been intentionally excluded from basic ...