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Democracy Now!

California and New York Approve $15 Minimum Wage Hike

Advocates are calling it one of the largest pay raises for American workers in the history of the country. About 5 million workers will see their wages increase substantially after a historic victory for the "Fight for 15" campaign. Both the state of California and New York City are poised to raise the minimum wage to $15 an hour in the coming years. On Thursday, the California Legislature voted to raise the minimum wage incrementally each year until it reaches $15 an hour by 2022. Meanwhile, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo says he has reached a budget deal that will hike the minimum wage in New York City to $15 by the end of 2018. "It’s remarkable that only about three years ago this movement started with a single strike of a bunch of McDonald’s workers in New York City, and it has spread across the country," says Democracy Now! co-host Juan Gonzalez. "And it’s going to continue to spread, because there’s too many Americans who cannot live on the federal minimum wage."

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