Nation’s Lowest-Paid Workers Are Set To Get A Raise
In 41 cities, the minimum wage is increasing on New Year’s Day and 28 of them come from California. This also includes 23 other states. Another five states and 22 cities and counties will hike their baseline rate later in 2023 according to a worker rights group, the National Employment Law Project.
There are variations in the pay raises. Michigan will be increasing its minimum wage by 23 cents to $10.10 an hour. The highest state minimum wage in the U.S. next year is to be set by Washington as they pay workers at $15.74 an hour, up $1.25 an hour from 2022.
According to a published post by CBS News, one of the cities raising the wage floor is Flagstaff, Arizona, where the base hourly pay is rising to $16.80 in the new year, up $1.30 from 2022; also in Cupertino, California, the minimum wage is rising to $17.20 an hour — an increase of 80 cents.
In 41 cities, the minimum wage is increasing on New Year’s Day and 28 of them come from California. This also includes 23 other states. (Photo: CBS News)
A Number of Cities and States Are Implement Minimum Wage Hikes
The two larger cities in Minnesota are also enacting increases, with large employers set to pay a minimum of $15.19 an hour in both Minneapolis and St. Paul. (See NELP for a list of cities and municipalities lifting their minimum wage.)
This act of raising the minimum wage for workers started a flurry of states raising their minimum wage. This is a result of years of advocacy and protests by groups including Fight for $15, which arose in 2012 to push for higher pay. An impetus for lawmakers to lift wages was ignited by the pandemic, surging inflation, and worker activism.
As stated by Yannet Lathrop, senior researcher and policy analyst at NELP, the raises we are seeing are a true testament to the power of organizing. These raises were achieved in various ways, from ballot initiatives to statehouses to workers making their demands to employers directly.
An estimated 8.4 million workers will benefit from these numerous pay hikes across the country, according to an analysis from the left-leaning Economic Policy Institute. EPI found that the annual raises for full-time workers make the minimum wage average from $150 in Michigan to $937 in Delaware.
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